Today we're learning the story of a Bitcoin block that was mined just a couple days ago by a solo miner, surprising the crypto community by successfully mining block #887,212 with just a 480 GH/s Bitaxe rig.

For some perspective, these mini-miners earn about $3 per year - yes you're reading that correctly, per year - that is, unless it happens to be the one to mine a new block.  Running a small rig like this is often compared to buying a lotto ticket, except you only need to pay once and get to play every day.

The Odds...

Making the story even crazier - the miner used was on the low end of these low end miners - having about a 1 in 4.6 million chance to win each day. Newer models bring that down to about 1 in 1.5 million.

This miner was using solo.ckpool, a popular choice among individual miners looking to strike digital gold without joining massive pools.

Pool developer Con Kolivas emphasized how remarkable this feat was, estimating that similar rigs have less than a one-in-a-million daily chance of solving a block. Statistically speaking, the average wait time for success with a rig this size is roughly 3,500 years.

To put this into perspective, industrial-scale Bitcoin miners commonly run setups about 2000% more powerful, so beating them with a rig this size is extremely rare.

Tiny Rig, Huge Payoff

This miner earned a reward of about $260,000 at the time, or 3.15 BTC plus an extra 0.025 BTC from transaction fees, according to mempool.space.

Adding to the surprise, the Bitaxe rig used in this incredible win was ultra-affordable, selling for around $90 on Ebay.

Solo Mining Faces Giants

Today, Bitcoin mining is dominated by major players like Foundry USA, whose massive hashrate primarily comes from publicly traded giants such as Cipher Mining, Bitfarms, and Hut 8. MARA Holdings, another heavy hitter, even operates its own dedicated MARA Pool.

Unlike commercial mining hardware that's typically proprietary, Bitaxe offers open-source solutions. Enthusiasts like Skot claim that open-source mining better reflects Bitcoin's core decentralized spirit—making this rare win even sweeter for Bitcoin purists.

-------
Author: Mark Pippen
London Newsroom
GlobalCryptoPress | Breaking Crypto News

It wasn't long ago when Riot Platforms launched North America's largest mining farm in Rockdale, Texas - but now they want to go even bigger.

Just announced, they've begun construction at a colossal new site in Corsicana, Texas - once complete, it will become the biggest Bitcoin mining facility in the world!

The new location will be even larger than their existing facility in Rockdale, seen here.

Known as the US State Most Welcoming to Miners, the Infamous Texas Heat Poses a Challenge...

Mining rigs generate intense heat, making cooling a paramount concern, most of the daily work of running a mine revolves around keeping the rigs from overheating. This is why many mining companies seek locations year-round frigid temps - but even in the winter you won't find temperatures this low anywhere in Texas.

To combat this, Riot partnered with HashHouse Tech to use immersion-cooling, which surrounds the miners with a flow of liquid coolant, capable of cooling at 20X the efficiency of air. This strategic move ensures they can stay operational even in the Lone Star State's scorching sun. 

Massive Mining Power...

Riot expects their total mining power (hashrate) to hit 20.1 EH/s once the new facility launches by the end of 2024. Crunching the numbers, first taking the next halving event into account, and using $50k for bitcoin's price, at that hashrate the company should earn around $800,000 per day.

Of course, that's before they pay the bills, and mining always has a big one huge bill - electricity. It's common for the majority of earnings to be lost to the power bill.  Riot is part of a special program in Texas that involves mining companies pre-paying for electricity, but when the grid is reaching capacity they have the ability to lower their usage and sell some of this power back to the grid. 

Texas officials have praised the program as a solution that prevents the grid shutting down when overwhelmed on hot summer days. Last year Riot earned over $30 million selling power back to Texas, but remember they first had to buy it up front so only a small portion of that is profit. It's hard to imagine any deal where less than 50% of revenue goes to paying electricity costs.

Profit Potential...

Last month Riot mined 520 BTC, worth around $250 Million - and this is before the largest mining farm in the world joins in. Along with the additional ability to sell stock (Nasdaq Symbol RIOT)  when they need to raise funds, Riot is quickly becoming a vital member of the industry.

-------------------
Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News
 

For the first time ever, a study regarding 'cryptocurrency mining' and 'the environment' was released, and instead of scolding miners for their high electricity usage, they're being praised for being part of the solution. 

If this isn't surreal enough already - the study comes from a source that typically argues the benefits of the traditional fiat banking system - the World Bank (WB). 

So, Why The Sudden Praise from Environmentalist and Traditional Banking?

This creative partnership brings together two sectors often criticized for their environmental impacts - oil industry and Bitcoin mining.

This is a truly rare situation where each party has the solution the other one needs to both reduce emissions, and increase profits while doing it. 

Here's How It Works...

When drilling for oil, companies typically hit pockets of natural gas before reaching the deeper oil deposits. Since oil is far more profitable, the companies release the natural gas into the air, often simply lighting it on fire in a practice called 'flaring' and continue drilling. The escaped gas, mainly methane, acts as a potent greenhouse gas.

By partnering with Bitcoin miners, oil companies can monetize these gas pockets rather than wasting them. In this arrangement miners create mobile mining rigs equipped with equipment that allows them to capture and use the natural gas to generate electricity for their rigs. When drilling is finished at one location, they tow everything to the next drilling site. The miners pay a highly discounted rate for the gas, which provides a new revenue stream for oil companies while reducing emissions.

Back in 2021 we broke the story of 'Secret Meetings between Texas Oil and Bitcoin Mining Companies" where these partnerships were forming. 

Now there are several mining companies successfully using this method to power their business, which means they've also unplugged from their previous electricity source - the powered grid, which still runs on coal in most cases - further decreasing their carbon footprint of the mining industry as well.

Natural gas burns cleaner than other energy sources, producing about half the emissions of coal. So using it for Bitcoin mining is a win-win - oil companies reduce pollution and earn additional income, while miners cut costs and reliance on dirtier power.

The World Bank's study titled 'Financing Solutions to Reduce Natural Gas Flaring and Methane Emissions' examined Bitcoin mining company Crusoe Energy, based in Colorado - they currently are working with oil giant Exxon at their drilling sites to power their Bitcoin mining business, and in a recent interview stated they're looking to the middle east next.

A Perfect Partnership...

I can't think of any other example where two industries are rewarded with higher profits almost immediately for taking steps to improve their impact on the environment. Companies often struggle to 'go green' as doing so involves large upfront expenses that can take decades to break-even on. 

Oil companies face increasing pressure from both the public and government to stop the practice of allowing natural gas to escape into the atmosphere while drilling, but most haven't taken steps to stop it. Mainly because it was an additional expense without enough upside to cover the costs - so most would never have addressed the issue until required by law.  Thanks to innovation from the Bitcoin mining industry, solving this problem now pays.

Some US states where oil drilling takes place are considering passing laws requiring oil companies to capture most of the natural gas that currently escapes into the atmosphere. If this happens, oil companies involved in mining cryptocurrency will become standard.

 

In a significant stride towards sustainability, Bitcoin mining has witnessed a remarkable transformation. A recent study from the University of Cambridge reveals that the energy efficiency of Bitcoin mining has soared to be "20 times greater" than figures from 2015.

But what does "energy efficiency" mean in this context? Simply put, it's the ability to achieve the same output using less electricity. When applied to the realm of mining, there have been notable advancements in devices operating on the Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm. These devices can now mine more Bitcoins while consuming equal or even lesser energy.

In his presentation at the World Digital Mining Summit 2023, Alexander Neumüller, an esteemed researcher at the Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), attributes this efficiency leap to technological innovations in the mining sector. These advancements have not only reduced electricity consumption but also bolstered the processing power of the Bitcoin network.

Highlighting the magnitude of this progress, Neumüller emphasized an astounding "20-fold increase" in Bitcoin mining's energy efficiency over the past eight years.

Historically, Bitcoin mining has been criticized for its hefty energy consumption, which many environmentalists claim leads to increased pollution. However, with the dual approach of enhancing energy efficiency and integrating renewable energy sources, the cryptocurrency industry is making strides towards a greener future.

There is one thing in crypto people can actually predict correctly - the next Bitcoin halving event. This changes the amount of Bitcoins miners receive as a reward for contributing computing power to keep the network running.

It effects the entire ecosystem because it decides the total amount of Bitcoin in circulation, halving instantly cuts the rate that number was growing in half. 

Initially, the reward for mining a block of transactions was 50 BTC. Then in 2012, this was 'halved' to 25 Bitcoins, again in 2016 it was halved to 12.5 BTC. Then most recently,  May 2020, halved again to 6.25.

Cutting their reward in half may sound drastic, but for some perspective, back when the reward was 50 Bitcoins per block mined, the most that was ever worth was $1000 when Bitcoin hit $20 in 2011. If Satoshi wasn't thinking long term, and these halving events were never programmed in, it would be like creating $300 million in new coins every day at today's price. 

Of course, prices would never have come close to what they are today if miners were constantly flooding the market with lots of easily earned coins.

Just like when a nation's government prints money, if they do too much, everyone's money becomes worth a bit less.  When politicians create more money because they want more money, not because the economy actually grew, we get inflation. Bigger, but only because it's been filled with worthless hot air. 

Some say Bitcoin has the solution to inflation built in to it...

These 2 rules make it different from any currency in human history:

First - no one has ability to create new Bitcoins.  Sure, it is a virtual item, and if your wallet isn't connected to the internet, you can mess with the code until the wallet believes it's holding 10 instead of 2 BTC.  Problem is, as soon as that wallet tries to use one of these counterfeit coins from nowhere, the transaction will fail.  A blockchain is literally a record of where every legitimate coin belongs, and no one is going to hack those records of the majority of miners (about 500,000 systems running thousands of different configurations). Yet even with this seemingly bulletproof security, there's still way too many people easily fooled in to opening the front door and letting thieves right in, but that's another story. 

So while no person can suddenly create a bunch of new Bitcoins, the code does this on its own at a rate for healthy growth, and since that rate isn't a secret, there's no surprises. Ironically, Bitcoin is constantly labeled volatile and unpredictable by the media, when it couldn't be more stable, and completely predictable. It's the humans trading it who seem to be constantly switching between buying as much as they can and selling it all off. 

New Bitcoin needs to be created to entice people to mine it, and just enough is created to accomplish that. Satoshi assumed as as time goes on, it would either be dead or growing in popularity, Satoshi set the rate of creating new comes to become LESS as and more people use it. This is a one of Bitcoin's major attractions to economists, bankers and investors, as it greatly raises the odds of Bitcoin having a positive long term outlook.

As time has gone on, the price tag on one of these halving events has a lot more people paying attention to them - the one set to happen next year will significantly reduce the annual amount of new Bitcoins by a whopping 164,250 coins - a dollar equivalent of dropping from $11.5 billion to $5.7 billion.

It's a delicate balance, and the next shake-up may throw some people off...

Mining experts from Blockware Solutions have crunched the numbers following the 2024 halving, examining the impact on different miners with a range of different hardware, and their report discovered a very a real risk for those running older, less efficient systems. 

The study even priced Bitcoin slightly higher than it is today, at $35,000, and used a network hashrate of 420 EH/s - the results show that a staggering 24% of Bitcoin's miners becoming unprofitable, spending more on electricity than they'd earn in Bitcoin - it's safe to assume they'll all just pull the plug. 

The survival of the fittest will be evident as only those miners equipped with the latest technology will thrive. Older rigs, with their diminishing efficiency, will need to be able to sell Bitcoin their Bitcoins at considerably higher prices, especially if electricity costs spike.

The Silver Lining For Bitcoin HODLers...

There's a popular belief that with fewer Bitcoins entering the market, demand might outstrip supply, potentially driving up prices. The low efficiency miners that would be eliminated are also typically the ones who immediately sell everything they earn, so removing their constant supply of new coins to the market could be good for anyone holding bitcoin.  

Blockware Solutions' comprehensive report also illustrates how cutting-edge equipment like the Antminer S19 and Antminer S19XP have a lower threshold for profitability and should continue to bring a profit for miners using them post 2024.

When you hear those estimates of "$1 million bitcoin" - this is what they're talking about, and why the dates they give are 15-30 years away.  Because with a steady, fairly reasonable growth rate, 20 years from now Bitcoin could be incredibly popular, and the supply of new coins so small, the only option buyers will have is to will continually raise the amount they're willing to pay.

The more difficult it becomes for someone to get Bitcoin, the tighter  HOLDers will grip on to what they have.

-------
Author: Mark Pippen
London Newsroom
GlobalCryptoPress | Breaking Crypto News

These highs have not been witnessed since early November of last year, just before the FTX meltdown and accompanying drop in bitcoin's price.

Based on data from the blockchain explorer blockchain.com, miners were making about $16.1 million per day at the start of the year. In the meantime, as of 30 January 2023, the amount is $23.8 million daily. In this light, January's growth rate stands at 48%.

Because miners are paid in BTC, the value of Bitcoin has major significance. On that note, after beginning the month at around  $16,500, January ended around $23,000.

The mining profitability increase began to stand out about halfway through January, when profitability for miners hit USD 77 PH/day, signaling a clear upward trend in miner performance metrics.

After a depressing 2022 characterized by a significant bear market and a 65% loss in BTC's market value, miners are optimistic about 2023 with their surprisingly strong start. 

------- 
Author: Adam Lee 
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

This information was confirmed via a source close to or within the company, who will remain unnamed.

Most people were unaware the recently bankrupt crypto lender Celsius was also mining Bitcoin at a fairly large scale- running more than 22,000 ASIC mining devices.  

We say 'more than 22,000' because towards the end of 2021 Celsius said the were expanding their mining operation, and at that point they said they already had 22,000 rigs.

We never heard how many more were added, assuming they followed through with their plans to expand at the time.

Then Market PANIC Triggered a Sell-Off of their Miners - at a HUGE Discount...

Through online auction sites Celsius sold at the mining rigs HALF PRICE of their current value, which highlights just how desperate the company had become. 

It appears they used primarily Antminer S19 Pro models, which you can buy from the manufacture Bitmain at today at $5,940 - but they sold each unit between $2,400 and $3,000.

Sticking with the low estimate of 22,000 mining rigs, it appears Celsius sold their mining rigs at a total discount of over $63 Million.

Taking a $63 Million Loss, to Avoid a $4 BILLION One...

While it sounds insane now, at the time the threat of liquidation was becoming more likely every day - their assets were over leveraged, and as Bitcoin's price dropped they were coming closer to losing everything. 

Raising these funds fast and paying down some of their debt helped them avoid losing all $4.7 billion!

Next time I think I'm having a stressful day at work, I'll think of the decisions the Celsius guys have had to make over these last few weeks. 

-------
Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News

2 Companies are participating at the same time in a DUO SACRIFICE PHASE. Sacrifice to show your voice  that the World needs ecofriendly BTC mining going forward. By 2024 BTC mining will use as much electricity as the country of Australia, according to some reports.

Change can happen but only if voiced together through a Sacrifice. Once the sacrifice phase is over, the total sacrifice points for each sacrifice’s address's points are totaled up. This creates a list of Sacrificees ranked by total points from largest to smallest. 

Minimum Sacrifice set to 100 points for which every Sacrificees receives the following products and services as long as the minimum Sacrificed amount is $4million USD or more: 

- Company A points (1 for 1)
- Company B points (1 for 1)
- Bonus Coin points (1/4 to 1)
- Frega points (5% of Sac amount 1 for 1)
- Potential Gifting Pooling Participation Program

In addition to the 100 points for 250 – 499 Sacrifice points includes:

- EcoSac Dryfit long sleeve Shirt
- Safepal S1 Hardwallet with leather case

In addition to the 100 & 250 points for 500 - 999 Sacrifice points includes:

- 500 2D LE NFT for Sacrificees 501 to 999 on Day 1
- All other Day 1 Sacrificees will receive a # 2D NFT
- For day 2-14 non-LE 2D NFT sequenced # largest to smallest by sac amount
- Crypto tax software for 1 year

In addition to the 100, 250, & 500 points for 1,000 or more Sacrifice points or more includes:

- 500 3D NFT LE for the 1st 500 Sacrificees on Day 1
- EcoSac watch or flash drive subject to availability
- Five random wallet addresses will be chosen via an aggregate to be awarded:
- Tesla Model 3 Long Range (Tax liabilities will be covered by the Sacrificee or wallet holder)

Those who cant afford the tax liability will have the option to have STM auction the vehicle to the highest  Sacrificee and receive the amount in BTC in lieu of the vehicle.

Five random wallet addresses for Full Bridge Implant Giveaway that includes: 

1. All extractions as needed.
2. All bone grafts except sinus lifts.
3. Premium Neodent Aqua implants which offer one of the fastest healing times for implants in the world.
4. Zirconia Pro - Upper/lower zirconia teeth featuring Prettau 2 Dispersive Zirconia from Zirkonzahn one of the world’s most stunning aesthetics
5. Available in BL1 shade https://vimeo.com/542789913/9277fca237
6. Unconditional 5 year warranty. No exclusions. No deductibles.
7. Performed by https://getdoneinone.com/locations/palm-beach/#doctor or potentially at a location  closest to you

This is truly the opportunity of a lifetime! 

*All Sacrificees whom are wanting the procedure will need to be a candidate of which ONLY the Doctor can make that  determination as STM or those involved with the Sacrifice cannot give any medical opinions nor will do so at any time. 

**All candidates will need to have xrays taken at their expense for the initial consult in order to be considered  for the procedure 

***subject to change at any time 

Leaderboard Bonuses: 

-  In addition to the 100, 250, & 500, & 1,000 points for the Top 14 (less the top 6) Sacrifice point totals includes: ecofriendly Bicycle or Scooter (when available by Company B) 

-  In addition to the 100, 250, 500, & 1,000 points for the Top 5 (less the Top 1) in Sacrifice points will receive 1  Whale pass (if available otherwise an additional ticket) + 1 ticket to BTC 2022 in Miami 

-  In addition to the 100, 250, 500, & 1000 points for the Top Sacrificee will receive an all-expense paid trip to  include Hotel and Air plus transfers from their home area to London for London2049 in Oct 2022 or a Bitcoin  conference of their choice. 

Everyone’s points supply increases with the amount sacrificed. The sacrifice will create 1 free dual point per  sacrifice point. Meaning, 1 sacrifice point earns 1 point in Company A and 1 point in Company B plus 25% of a  point in the Bonus Coin, plus 5% of every sacrifice into Frega points, and a depending on the Sac amounts  additional products or services can be obtained such as a Hard wallet, NFT either 2D or 3D, Tesla, London  conference, passes to Bitcoin 2022 in Miami, etc. The USD value of sacrifice's are estimated using 60-minute  time weighted average prices as needed. At some future date in 2022 Company A, B, and Bonus point totals be  exchanged for three different coins whereas the coins when launched on various exchanges will start at zero  value. 

Point Bonus 

Those with the largest voice and sacrifice the largest points will be in the front. The next largest follows and so  forth all the way to the minimum of 100 points sacrificed. Upon sacrificing, a volume bonus will now be added  to the point total from the largest receiving 3X and every bonus thereafter being slightly less until it reaches just  a bit above 1x. The difference between each point bonus is minimum but it’s a difference.  

At the end, all the sacrifice addresses are taken with point totals plus the bonus added from largest to smallest in  order. The first address at 3x bonus to the last slightly above 1x. Now everyone has received their bonus that is  well deserved for speaking out on ecofriendly electricity usage. This now can be seen on a linear bonding curve  from 1x+ to 3x. 

The largest point total is in the beginning. The next highest Sacrificees point total is next, and so forth. Days 1  and 2 will have the max bonus allowed starting at 3x; day 3 will start at 2.5x; and days 12-14 have a flat bonus  of 1.25x. 

Dual Company Goals:

- Decrease BTC Mining Electricity Usage worldwide
- Using total off grid power sources.
- See you in Miami for BTC 2022
- Using other renewable power sources
- Wind, solar, hydro, wave, and flare capping gases to reduce the environmental impact of BTC mining.
- Environment voice campaigning to maintain it for generations to come.
- Reduce Emissions
- 100% carbonless emission via MPGS (magnetic power generating system)
-  Be a Voice for Eco Friendly BTC!

Time to Sacrifice!

BIG Disruption Looming Ahead with Ground Breaking All-In One Decentralized Technology that is Launching Q1 2022

Soft Launch 12/14/21 12am UTC 

Hard Launch 1/4/22 12am UTC  

For More Info:
Website: www.Ecosac.io
Telegram: https://t.me/ecosacio
Contact: Abhi@saratechnologies.com

--------
Information Provided via Press Release
Distributed by Global Crypto Press Association
Breaking Crypto News

According to the University of Cambridge, China currently accounts for 65% of the processing power of the Bitcoin network, something that critics say could be used against other nations if China were to 'weaponize' the miners, a law instantly banning their use would cause network congestion, which would cause and a price drop.

But it's worth pointing out, those pushing this theory hardest are typically connected to companies selling gold as an investment, and the theory doesn't explain the damage China would do to itself, as many of their citizens hold bitcoin as well.

Mawson Infrastructure Group is a company operating in Australia and the US, and they've just ordered 11,760 bitcoin miners to be manufactured by Chinese company Canaan.

But A Bulk Order Of Bitcoin Mining Machines Headed To The US And Australia Will Help Even Things Out...

"Our contract with Mawson is a strong validation of our product quality, technology superiority, and supply reliability. We look forward to forging a long-term relationship with Mawson and supporting the growth of its bitcoin mining operations around the world." says Nangeng Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canaan.

But these bitcoin mining machines won't stay in China, the contract includes shipping and installing them in their US/Australia facilities.  One user in a Bitcoin mining forum estimated this could swing things '5% to 10% away from China's total'.

Total costs were not made public, but at the price of $8,000 per A1246 Avalon Miner, the total would be $94 million.  Of course, it's safe to assume a large bulk order discount was part of the deal. 

-------  
Author: Adam Lee
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

Russian based Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation spotted a market in need of what they sell - power!

But there's one major difference between them and some of the other hydroelectric, wind, of geothermal based power companies around the world that have embraced electricity-hungry cryptocurrency miners- they're NUCLEAR.

Sergei Nemchenkov, director of the information says the company does not plan to mine, but will "take advantage of the opportunity to sell additional energy to heavy users and rent space for their equipment".

It won't be a huge leap for the power company, they already rent out similar space for businesses with web servers/data centers.

The company says the first location, their power plant in Udomlya (about 200 miles outside of Moscow) is ready to go, and claims they spent 4.8 million building the on-site facilities for miners to rent out.

This is the first of 4 nuclear powered locations they aim to launch this year.

 -------
Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk