In today’s bitcoin and cryptocurrency news, learn about why it looks like crypto prices will never recover. There are three reasons why crypto prices are plummeting. Meanwhile, Compute North, a data center provider for cryptocurrency miners and blockchain startups, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas. On the other hand, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has launched a Crypto Sustainability Coalition to study how Web3 and blockchain capabilities might be used for climate action. Finally, in the last three days, 11 mining pools have dedicated hashrate to Bitcoin (BTC). In the last year, 27 mining pools mined BTC, and 98 pools mined BTC in the last 13 years, according to statistics.
Exactly What is Causing Today’s Crypto Market Dip
Original Source: Why is the crypto market down today?
Crypto prices keep falling—why? The market crisis has converted most winning portfolios into net losers, and new investors are losing hope in Bitcoin (BTC).
Cryptocurrencies are volatile, but this year’s drawdown was dramatic. After reaching an all-time high of $69,400, Bitcoin’s price fell over 11 months to $17,600.
Value is dropped 75%.
Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market cap, fell 82% from $4,800 to $900 in seven months.
Years of data suggest that 55%–85% drawdowns are the norm after parabolic bull market advances, but the causes weighing on crypto prices currently differ from those that drove sell-offs in the past.
At the present, investor mood is low as they avoid risk and wait to see if the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy would reduce high inflation in the U.S. On Sept. 21, Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced a 0.75 percent interest rate hike and signaled that future raises might continue until inflation fell closer to 2%.
Here are three reasons why crypto prices are plummeting in 2022.
Rate hikes by the Fed
Consumers and corporations pay more to borrow as interest rates rise. This raises business operations costs, product costs, wages, and eventually the cost of almost everything.
Inflation is the main reason the Fed is hiking interest rates. Bitcoin and the larger crypto market have been in a slump since March 2022.
When monetary policy or economic parameters fluctuate, risk assets react before stocks. The Fed began signaling its plans to hike interest rates in 2021, and Bitcoin price fell substantially by December 2021. Bitcoin and Ethereum were the canaries in the coal mine for stocks.
If inflation tapers, the economy improves, or the Fed signals a pivot in monetary policy, risk assets like Bitcoin and altcoins could reflect the return of risk-on sentiment from investors.
Constant regulation
The cryptocurrency industry and regulators have a long history of not getting along due to mistrust over digital asset use cases. Without a working framework for crypto sector regulation, countries and states have conflicting policies on how to classify cryptocurrencies as assets and define a legal payment system.
The lack of clarity weighs on growth and innovation in the sector, and many analysts believe mainstreaming cryptocurrencies can’t happen until a more universally agreed upon and understood set of laws is enacted.
Bitcoin and altcoins are significantly impacted by investor sentiment. To date, the threat of unfriendly cryptocurrency regulations or, in the worst case, a ban continues to impact crypto prices nearly monthly.
Scams and Ponzis caused liquidations and investor confidence hits.
Scams, Ponzi schemes, and market volatility contributed to the 2022 crypto price drop. Bad news and events that compromise market liquidity tend to cause catastrophic outcomes due to lack of regulation, the youth of the cryptocurrency industry, and the market’s small size compared to equity markets.
The implosion of Terra’s LUNA and Celsius Network and Three Arrows Capital’s (3AC) misuse of leverage and client funds hit crypto asset values successively. Bitcoin is the sector’s largest asset by market cap, and altcoin prices tend to follow BTC price.
As Terra and LUNA collapsed, Bitcoin price corrected sharply due to multiple Terra liquidations, and investor sentiment plummeted.
Voyager, 3AC, and Celsius crashed, wiping off billions in investor and protocol funds.
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Expectations for 2022-2023
The factors driving falling prices in the crypto market are Fed policy, so the Fed’s power to raise, pause, or lower rates will continue to impact Bitcoin, ETH, and altcoin prices.
In the meantime, investors’ appetite for risk is likely to remain muted. Potential crypto traders may want to wait for signs that U.S. inflation has peaked and the Federal Reserve to signal a policy pivot.
Compute North, a Company That Operates a Bitcoin Data Center, Files for Bankruptcy
Original Source: Bitcoin Mining Data Center Firm Compute North Files For Bankruptcy
Compute North, a data center for bitcoin miners and blockchain startups, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Texas court.
Minnesota-based corporation will keep operating as it repays creditors. The statement alleged it owes $500 million to 200 creditors. Compute North’s assets are valued $100-$500 million, according to records.
In 2017, the company began crypto mining before switching to hosting for other miners. Local constraints delayed the inauguration of a huge mining plant in Texas this year, reducing its revenues.
Clients include Marathon Digital and Compass Mining. Both Marathon Digital and Compass Mining tweeted that Compute North’s bankruptcy filing won’t affect their company.
Compute North funded $385 million in February and has relationships with crypto miners Hive Blockchain and Atlas Mining.
Compute North’s bankruptcy filing makes it the latest crypto winter casualty, with Voyager Digital, Celsius Network, and Three Arrows Capital filing earlier this year.
Falling cryptocurrency prices and rising energy costs have cut miners’ income, with Bitcoin mining revenue hitting a two-year low this month.
A New Crypto Sustainability Coalition is Established by the World Economic Forum
Original Source: World Economic Forum launches a new Crypto Sustainability Coalition
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has launched a Crypto Sustainability Coalition to study how Web3 and blockchain capabilities might be used for climate action.
The Switzerland-based NGO announced the new coalition on Wednesday during a panel discussion titled “Web3’s Climate Impact.” It will comprise 30 partners in sustainable development, web3, crypto, and blockchain technology.
Members of the alliance will examine the potential environmental and social benefits of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs.
“The coalition launch is timely as there is an urgent need to encourage the decarbonization of bitcoin,” a WEF media specialist stated. “Regulation clarity must foster web3 innovation, safeguard consumers, and boost financial inclusion.”
The partnership will fund R&D, discuss best practices, and influence climate-related regulation.
Cryptocurrency mining is energy-intensive. According to the Digiconomist Bitcoin Energy Use Index, Bitcoin’s annual carbon footprint equals Greece’s and its energy consumption equals the UAE’s.
Working groups will focus on energy usage, Web3’s climate action potential, and “On-chain” carbon credits.
The energy usage group will evaluate the crypto industry’s energy and material use to understand its influence on the environment. The Web3 working group will “study how web3 innovations can speed up the low-carbon transition to meet Paris Agreement goals.” On-chain carbon credits working group will examine if blockchain-based carbon credits can fix global carbon markets.
Accenture, Avalanche, Avatree, CC Token, Circle, Climate Collective, Crypto Council for Innovation, Emerge, Energy Web Foundation, eToro, EY, Flowcarbon, Heifer International, KlimaDAO, Lukka, NEAR Foundation, Nori, PlanetWatch, Plastiks, Rainforest Partnership, Recykal, ReSeed, Ripple, Solana, Stellar Development Foundation, STEWARD, Sustainable Bitcoin Standard, Toucan Protocol
The partnership aims to “create a broad education campaign on web3’s promise and capabilities” to enlighten governments on how to regulate new technologies and encourage investment and research, the WEF said.
This new coalition was made possible by the Crypto Impact and Sustainability Accelerator (CISA), a grant-funded Forum initiative launched in January 2022 to encourage a fuller understanding of the ESG consequences of crypto technology.
Unknown Miners Discovered the Most Bitcoin Blocks in the Last 13 Years, Whereas Known Pools Currently Dominate
Original Source: While Known Mining Pools Currently Dominate, Unknown Miners Discovered the Most Bitcoin Blocks During the Last 13 Years
Over 755,000 blocks have been mined since the Bitcoin network began 5,012 days ago. Foundry USA and Antpool were the top two miners in 2017, mining 18,229 of 53,510 blocks. Foundry is the top this year, yet it’s the 15th largest pool overall and has only found 1.55% of the 755,000 blocks uncovered.
During the last 13 years, most Bitcoin blocks were discovered by unknown hashrate.
In the last three days, 11 mining pools have dedicated hashrate to Bitcoin (BTC). In the last year, 27 mining pools mined BTC, while 98 pools mined BTC in the last 13 years, according to statistics.
This year, Foundry USA is the hashrate leader, discovering 10,044 BTC blocks out of 53,510. Antpool mined 8,185 BTC blocks. F2pool, Binance Pool, Viabtc, Poolin, and Btc.com followed.
Unknown hashrate, or stealth miners, seized 1.78% of blocks in the past year. Unknown hashrate gathered 954 blocks in 12 months as known mining pools rose in Bitcoin’s ranks.
However, stealth miners, including Satoshi Nakamoto, have won the most BTC blocks in history. The unknown hashrate has mined 29.90% of the 755,432 blocks mined in the last 13 years.
Unknown hashrate is less remarkable currently, but stealth miners have found 225,864 blocks since the network began. F2pool was the third largest pool last year and the second largest overall.
F2pool controls 9.73% of the global hashrate and has identified 73,477 BTC blocks. Antpool is the third-largest pool with 65,999 blocks.
Btc.com has 39,022 blocks and Braiins Pool (previously Slush Pool) 38,376. BTC Guild is still the sixth largest mining pool in terms of blocks found in the previous 13 years.
Today’s top miner, Foundry USA, is 15th in all-time statistics and has only found 1.55% of the blocks mined. Twelve pools have found less than 50 blocks, while four have found less than 30.
175btc has found the fewest blocks (22) of any bitcoin mining pool. In September 2022, Bitcoin’s hashrate and mining difficulty hit all-time highs.
Summary of today’s Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency news
Overall, risk-taking is expected to remain muted among investors for the time being, so those interested in trading cryptocurrencies may want to hold off until there are indications that inflation in the United States has peaked and the Federal Reserve starts using language consistent with a policy shift.
Meanwhile, along with crypto broker Voyager Digital, crypto lender Celsius Network, and crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, Compute North is the latest big casualty of the continuing crypto winter.
On the other hand, the Forum’s Crypto Impact and Sustainability Accelerator (CISA) was financed by a grant and launched in January 2022 with the goal of increasing awareness of the ESG effects of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.
Finally, according to data compiled on every single bitcoin mined, the 175btc mining pool has discovered the fewest blocks of them all (22). The global hashrate and mining difficulty of Bitcoin both peaked in September 2022, after 13 years of steady growth.
