Every four years — or more precisely, every 210,000 blocks — the Bitcoin network cuts its block reward in half. This event, known as the halving, is the single most important scheduled event in Bitcoin’s calendar. It is hardcoded into Bitcoin’s protocol and will continue until all 21 million Bitcoin have been mined, expected around…
Earlier this week, the Australian blockchain startup IoT Group signed an agreement to reopen a coal-fired power plant in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. Local media outlet The Age reports that the IoT Group aims to use the plant as a “behind the grid” power source, securing inexpensive electricity for a new…
Even though it has only been on the market for a matter of weeks, Halong Mining’s DragonMint T1 is quickly establishing itself as a viable rival to Bitmain’s near-ubiquitous Antminer S9 bitcoin miner. Both miners offer a similar level of performance and efficiency — the T1 having a slight edge over the S9 on most…
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published Intel’s patent application for a new method of mining bitcoin that could dramatically reduce energy use. The patent was originally filed in late 2016 by three Intel employees, but was only cleared for publication yesterday. The application is highly technical in nature, but essentially describes a process that…
Location is everything when it comes to cryptocurrency mining. If a city or town has naturally cool weather and ready access to inexpensive electricity, it’s only a matter of time before bitcoin miners start setting up shop there. In the case of the Canadian city of Medicine Hat, Alberta, the area’s innate appeal to cryptocurrency…
Yesterday, the Plattsburgh, New York, city council adopted a measure that would prevent new cryptocurrency miners from taking advantage of the city’s low electricity rates for industrial businesses. As reported by Motherboard, the council unanimously approved the 18-month moratorium, following complaints about rapidly rising electricty prices from the city’s residents. Existing bitcoin mining operations in…
Bitcoin hardware manufacturer Bitmain may be in the process of opening a new facility in the U.S., according to a new report published on CoinDesk. The privately held Chinese firm appears to be tied to newly established company called Ant Creek, LLC, which is currently negotiating a land-use deal with officials in Walla Walla, Washington….
Last week, police in Iceland arrested 11 people in connection with the theft of some 600 bitcoin mining units over four separate incidents in December and January. With an estimated value of around $2 million, the thefts have been dubbed the “Big Bitcoin Heist” by local media. The mining hardware has yet to be recovered.
With electricity costs averaging between 3-to-4 cents per kilowatt-hour — roughly half the average cost in the U.S. — the northern Oregon town of The Dalles is primed to become a regional hotspot for cryptocurrency mining. As reported this week by regional newspaper Willamette Week, the city’s access to inexpensive energy has already attracted one…
According to a report published in South Korean business publication The Bell, electronics giant Samsung has partnered with a Taiwan-based hardware manufacturer TSMC to produce a new line of ASICs for the cryptocurrency mining market. The report states that prototyping and development began last year, with mass production of the chips starting earlier this month.