In today’s bitcoin and cryptocurrency news, find out about a bitcoin mining data center in South Australia will reportedly run on solar power. The coin minting factory is in an energy-hungry region known for iron mining and steel production. Meanwhile, in “The Flippening,” many believe Ethereum will overtake Bitcoin. This Forkast explainer discusses Ethereum’s reign. Finally, the proof-of-stake switchover on the Ethereum network went without a hitch, but the native currency of the platform declined more than most popular coins.
Australia’s Solar-Powered Crypto Farm Shows That Bitcoin Mining Is Environmentally Friendly
Original Source: Solar-Powered Crypto Farm in Australia to Prove Bitcoin Mining Can Be Green
South Australia Bitcoin Farm to Use Solar, Excess Energy
Whyalla, South Australia, has a new solar-powered crypto mining plant. The 5-megawatt facility will mint bitcoin, an energy-intensive process.
In a time when the world is trying to cut energy use, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization uses more power than Argentina. It echoes global media condemnation.
Local officials see solar crypto mining as proof bitcoin generation may be greener. Nick Champion, South Australia’s Trade and Investment Minister, elaborated.
This helps decarbonize the energy-intensive blockchain sector. Whyalla is starting a new economy.
The official hopes to see more data centers mining cryptocurrencies with green energy. “There will be demand for blockchain, but also carbon-neutral blockchain,” he predicts.
His statement comes after a White House assessment projected that bitcoin creation in the US accounts for 0.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Lumos Digital Mining says the new crypto farm may mint 100 BTC annually, depending on electricity. Angelo Kondylas said the company might sell some solar power to other consumers or raise bitcoin output to use surplus energy from other sources.
Kondylas noted that power generators lose a lot when they shut down during low demand. “We’re a sponge.” We absorb excess,” he said. The miner plans to expand.
Bitcoin mining on renewable and surplus energy is gaining pace globally, with investor interest in solar-based coin minting facilities in the U.S. and expanding capacity of cryptocurrency farms running on associated petroleum gas (APG) in Russia’s oil fields.
When will Ethereum overtake Bitcoin? It’s “The Flippening” right now
Original Source: Will Ethereum ever surpass Bitcoin? This is “The Flippening”
The Flippening
Bitcoin’s first block, the Genesis Block, was mined in 2009. Ethereum’s smart contracts laid the framework for decentralized finance and non-fungible coins in 2015. (NFT).
Some advocates say that Bitcoin is the first completely decentralized cryptocurrency with a restricted supply. Ethereum advocates think the smart contract pioneer will surpass Bitcoin. It’s called “The Flippening.”
The Flippening trended on Reddit and Twitter in 2017 when Bitcoin’s market dominance plummeted from 95.88% in March to 51.37% in August.
Ethereum’s rising price and popularity helped dethrone Bitcoin. On June 18, 2017, Ethereum came closest to The Flippening as Bitcoin’s market share dipped to 40.6% and Ethereum took 32%.
Ethereum—digital oil
The Flippening has merit. As of September 2022, Ethereum’s smart contract ecosystem had over 4,000 decentralized applications (dApps).
Ethereum debuted smart contracts in 2015. Due to the network’s programmability, 3,920 developers joined the Web 3.0 ecosystem in 2021, making Ethereum the most active blockchain network. Ethereum’s smart contract lets developers create decentralized exchanges, stablecoins, and NFTs.
Ethereum is the leading chain for NFT sales with roughly US$30 billion, followed by the Ethereum sidechain Ronin network with US$4 billion.
Ethereum is a utility-based asset whose value is largely governed by supply and demand, therefore “digital oil.” Like the global supply chain, most of the DeFi space runs on Ethereum or smart contracts.
Ethereum introduced a burning mechanism for Ether in August 2021 as part of the London hard fork (EIP-1559). The upgrade replaced auction-based transaction fees with a predetermined base cost that is later burned. Since September 2022, the network has burnt 2.6 million ETH.
Vitalik Buterin, a key personality in the crypto world, leads the Ethereum Foundation. Some detractors say Ether’s structure is why the SEC should classify it as a security.
Ethereum confronts rising ‘Ethereum murderers’ Cardano, Solana, and Binance’s BNB Chain promise faster and cheaper transactions than Ethereum and DeFi.
Ethereum’s Merge
“The Merge” upgraded Ethereum’s network to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism on September 15, reducing energy usage by 99.95%, according to Ethereum Foundation researcher Carl Beekhuizen. The Merge opens the door for Ethereum 2.0 scalability upgrades like sharding, which will increase network capacity and transaction throughput.
The Merge substitutes Ether miners with stakers, who operate as validators, altering economic incentives and minimizing selling pressure.
Ether’s deflationary tendency is projected to strengthen post-Merge, as more investors lock Ether to reserve a validators’ seat.
Ether is infinite, unlike Bitcoin.
Bitcoin—digital gold
Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, has dominated the market. Bitcoin’s blockchain started producing blocks in 2009, six years before Ethereum.
Bitcoin boasts 15,000 nodes and is the principal cryptocurrency of financial institutions. Bitcoin has led the way in mainstream use of cryptocurrencies thanks to investments from whales and institutions.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous developer of Bitcoin, left the cryptocurrency in the community’s hands. The network is leaderless.
Bitcoin’s finite quantity mimics precious metals, earning it the nickname “digital gold.” This is done by mining.
Bitcoin’s energy-intensive proof-of-work consensus methodology has generated environmental concerns.
Despite SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s permission, his Commission has rejected all spot Bitcoin ETFs, alleging market manipulation and lack of oversight.
Business voices
Coinbase AAX’s head of research and strategy thinks Ethereum won’t overtake Bitcoin.
Bitcoin and Ethereum are still highly connected, therefore The Flippening is unlikely to happen soon. Given the link and Bitcoin’s nearly doubled trade volume, I’d think chances are minimal.
“If I had to bet, I’d estimate 5% in the next 2 years and 40% in the next 5 years,” Chains.com Founder and CEO Anderson Mccutcheon said, adding that a utility increase might spark The Flippening.
L1s, lead by Ethereum, increased against BTC due to ICOs, DeFi, NFT, and gaming in 2021. Once we find the next big utility or a scalable application of present utilities, notably NFTs, L1s may spike,” Muccutcheon added.
James Key, founder of Autonomy Network, thinks Ethereum won’t replace Bitcoin due to the market’s high correlation to Bitcoin.
Key warned Forkast that a sustained Flippening is unlikely. If the combine is successful, ETH will certainly suffer a small pump from the attention, but it would need to 3x its market value to flip BTC.
Optimists abound.
SupraOracles CEO Joshua Tobkin predicts The Flippening by 2035.
I predict Ethereum’s smart contract framework will flip Bitcoin. But it may take 10 years.” Tobkin emailed Forkast. Programmability, which creates other use cases outside of money or digital gold, could help Ethereum overcome Bitcoin.
Yutaro Mori, cofounder of Orca, thinks The Flippening could happen by 2030: “Bitcoin won’t be number one by the end of the decade.” Yahoo dominated the internet until the 2000s. Now they’re not even top 10.”
Valentin Pletnev, CEO and creator of Quasar Finance, believes Ether may momentarily overtake BTC in 2023 or 2024.
The question is whether Ethereum will remain number one following a Flippening. Forkast, Pletnev said. “With blockchain platform competition, I doubt it.”
High gas fees will remain Ethereum’s Achilles heel, said Pletnev.
Largest Losses on Merge Week for Ethereum
Original Source: This Week in Coins: Ethereum Posts Biggest Losses on Merge Week
After merge week, Ethereum crashed. Thursday was the long-awaited switch to a proof-of-stake network. Ethereum (ETH) fell 8% to below $1,500 and kept plunging.
ETH is $1,424, down 17% in a week. This week, it lost the most market capitalization among the top 30 cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin (BTC) also dropped. It’s 7% down than last week at this writing, at $19,788.
Near Protocol (NEAR), which trades at $4.24, posted the second-biggest loss, a little over 10%. Avalanche sank to $18.06, and Polkadot fell to $6.87; all are so-called “Ethereum killers” with high-functionality smart contracts.
ETC is down 12.6% to $34.27. ETC is based on Ethereum’s original ledger, which includes a $55 million DAO attack.
Every top 30 cryptocurrency dropped in the past week except XRP and ATOM. Cosmos is a network of tiny blockchains, unlike Ethereum, except it provides smart contracts.
Merged Ethereum
Ethereum completed the long-awaited switch from a blockchain certified by a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to a considerably more energy-efficient proof-of-stake algorithm on Thursday. Miners that stake the most ETH validate the most transactions, and reap the rewards.
Smooth transition. A research commissioned by ConsenSys claims Ethereum uses 99.99% less energy following the merging. If true, the improvement has surpassed Ethereum’s expectations.
The merge centralized Ethereum. Coinbase and liquidity staking pool Lido Finance account for 42% of post-merge Ethereum validators, and the top seven firms control more over two thirds of the transaction stake.
Washington’s dispatches
It’s unclear if Washington’s crypto announcement contributed to price decreases.
Senator Pat Toomey grilled SEC Chair Gary Gensler on Thursday during a Senate Banking Committee oversight hearing.
Toomey claimed the SEC failed investors when Celsius and Voyager collapsed this year. Both lenders promised significant crypto profits.
Gensler replied that many companies haven’t directly contacted the SEC about listing and selling coins. He claimed bitcoin needs “one officer on the beat.”
Following a Congressional Hearing on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Gensler said proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, which allow holders to passively earn returns through staking, could be classified as securities: “From the coin’s perspective…another that’s indication that under the SEC’s “Howey test,” the investing public is anticipating profits based on the efforts of others.
Summary of today’s Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency news
To sum it up, with rising investor interest in solar-based coin minting projects in the U.S. and rising capacity of cryptocurrency farms running on associated petroleum gas (APG) at Russia’s oil fields, bitcoin mining on renewable and surplus energy has gained traction across the globe.
In addition, Valentin Pletnev, CEO and creator of Quasar Finance, believes Ether may momentarily overtake BTC in 2023 or 2024. The question is whether Ethereum will remain number one following a Flippening. Forkast, Pletnev said. “With blockchain platform competition, I doubt it.”
Finally, following a Congressional Hearing on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Gensler said proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, which allow holders to passively earn returns through staking, could be classified as securities: “From the coin’s perspective…another that’s indication that under the SEC’s “Howey test,” the investing public is anticipating profits based on the efforts of others.
