Archive for the ‘Bitcoin’ Category

Crypto Is Mostly Over. Its Carbon Emissions Are Not. – The Atlantic

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At this point, for most of us, cryptocurrency seems like nothing more than a fad. After the FTX bankruptcy and broader crypto crash last year, basically all of the celebrities who were promoting crypto have gone silent. MiamiCoin, hyped by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez as a new source of income for the city, is now worthless. The Wild West days of the industry may be over. Recently, the head of the SEC warned crypto firms to do their work within the bounds of the law or face enforcement actions. Lots of people lost money in the crash, but from the planets perspective, the industrys downfall is good news: The computing power fueling the crypto boom was so substantial that it was causing substantial greenhouse-gas emissions.

And yet cryptos greenhouse-gas emissions are still shockingly high, according to an industry tracker run by the University of Cambridge. The tracker focuses on bitcoin, the cryptocurrency with by far the largest market share, and estimates that at its current rate of mining new coins, bitcoin will release about 62 megatons of carbon-dioxide equivalent each yearabout as much as the entire country of Serbia emitted in 2019. Thats up from about 43 megatons a year in December, and just slightly below the all-time peak of nearly 74 in May 2021. Many people whove invested in crypto tend to have a lot of sunk costs, whether digital wallets bulging with various coins, tokens, or expensive physical setups designed to make more. Even now that the boom times are over, they have no reason to stop.

Mining bitcoin does not involve actually digging anything out of the groundunless you count the fossil fuel that often powers it. The process involves using heavy-duty computers to grind through trillions of calculations, solving equations to create virtual coins. The method is known as proof of work. Once upon a time, bitcoin mining was something that people did if they had a couple of spare computers they wanted to put to work. Over time, its taken more and more computing power to unlock a single coin; now most mining is done in large-scale operations using purpose-built mining rigs.

And it is Americas problem now. After China clamped down on crypto mining in 2021, such computing work increased in the United States. Miners set up shop in communities with low energy prices. And owners of unprofitable power-generation infrastructure, such as waste-coal-burning power plants, opened up crypto-mining operations to create another revenue stream. These companies have put a lot of money into their hardware and their physical space, and they will continue mining until they are actively losing money. There are miners that have been quoted saying, As long as the price is over $10,000 per coin, it still can generate money, Elizabeth Moran, a policy advocate at the green law firm Earthjustice, told me. And that is a big reason crypto keeps spewing out so many emissions even during the crypto winter: Bitcoin prices in particular have held up, in fact they just passed $28,000 a coin. Thats still far below their peak of almost $68,000 in late 2021, but represents a bit of a comeback from the sub-$16,000 prices of last fall.

So it is still very possible to make money at this game. Some companies bypass the energy grid entirely; depending on the price of gas and the price of bitcoin, turning natural gas into crypto might be twice as profitable as selling it to the wholesale gas market. Gas companies bring in a trailer or three jam-packed with generators, plugging one end into the well and the other into shipping containers full of bitcoin miners, says Rob Altenburg, the senior director for energy and climate at PennFuture, an environmental nonprofit. Weve heard of three different companies doing it. But weve got thousands of fracked gas wells across the state and just simply have no way of knowing where this is happening. Gas drilling is heavily regulated, but crypto mining itself is not.

A recent federal investigation in Colorado found crypto mining powered by gas wells on public-lease lands, creaming energy off before it hit the grid and converting it to crypto without paying any royalties. The report noted that because the generators and rigs are usually on trailers, the entire operation can be moved quickly, so miners can stay ahead of government oil and gas inspectors. Other behind-the-meter operations are physically located at power plants. The natural-gas-fired Greenidge Generation Station, on the shores of Seneca Lake in upstate New York, opened a massive bitcoin-mining operation plugged right into the plant, which in 2021 consumed the bulk of the electricity it produced. Tapping into energy before it hits the grid is just one way bitcoin miners keep costs down; theyll seek out and exploit any cheap source of energy.

Crypto doesnt have to torch the planet. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, switched to a different method of creating its tokens in September 2022. The new approach, called proof of stake, uses significantly less computing power, so much so that after the switch, the companys total energy consumption dropped 99.95 percent. It is impossible for bitcoin to switch to proof of stake, because the bitcoin network is completely decentralized, Kyle Schneps, the director of public policy at Foundry, a major mining financier, told me. There is no governing body that could make such a decision.

Renewables could also power bitcoin mining, just like they power anything else. Maybe as much as 38 percent of bitcoin mining is currently powered by renewables, according to the Cambridge tracker, though no one really knows. But that hasnt gone up since the crypto winter. Schneps said that bitcoin mining could help with the energy transition: Renewable-energy companies can always sell their energy to bitcoin miners when demand is otherwise low, keeping them profitable enough to stay in business and grow. But its not clear if mining operations that run only at certain times would be profitable.

For now, bitcoin will remain an albatross on the planet at just the moment that the energy transition ramps up. Cambridge predicts that its environmental impact in 2023 will be worse than it was in 2022. The Super Bowl ads and awkward late-night celebrity endorsements may be gone, but crypto is not dead. Still embraced by true believers and international criminals, the hard drives grind on, in shipping containers and empty warehouses and back lots of power plants, endlessly calculating, spinning money out of carbon and faith.

Lots of other digital activities do consume power and cause greenhouse-gas emissionsquesting with pals, hoarding years of work emails on the cloud, making friends with a hallucinating AI. One analysis in 2019 suggested that our online lives were responsible for 3.7 percent of planet-wide emissions; the number may have gone up since. Schneps likened bitcoins global electricity consumption to roughly the same as video games. But even if thats true, while two-thirds of Americans play video games, just 21 percent of Americans own crypto, and even less bitcoin in particular. The massive environmental impact of bitcoin is harder to swallow because it is part of an industry that is, in essence, smoke and mirrors, as the crypto blogger James Block put it in an interview with Charlie Warzel. Theres nothing produced by these companies.

Finance experts around the world largely agree with Block. In December, a director-general at the European Central Bank, Ulrich Bindseil, called for serious financial institutions to stop legitimizing cryptocurrency, saying bitcoin was not suitable as an investment. If the world is going to continue to burn fossil fuels, it makes sense to do so for things that genuinely contribute to peoples well-being, not for risky virtual tokens untethered to any real thing of value in the world.

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Crypto Is Mostly Over. Its Carbon Emissions Are Not. - The Atlantic

Bitcoin Edges Lower. Crypto Traders Pause Before Another Rally. – Barron’s

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were lower Thursday after a selloff Wednesday following the latest interest-rates hike from the Federal Reserve. Crypto traders see continued momentum in the digital asset rallybut a pause for now.

The price of Bitcoin has fallen 1.5% in the past 24 hours to $27,700, tumbling from Wednesday highs above $28,500 but rebounding from the trough below $27,000 immediately after the Fed raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. Wednesdays peak marked the highest level for Bitcoin...

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were lower Thursday after a selloff Wednesday following the latest interest-rates hike from the Federal Reserve. Crypto traders see continued momentum in the digital asset rallybut a pause for now.

The price of Bitcoin has fallen 1.5% in the past 24 hours to $27,700, tumbling from Wednesday highs above $28,500 but rebounding from the trough below $27,000 immediately after the Fed raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. Wednesdays peak marked the highest level for Bitcoin since the crypto bear market accelerated last June, with prices for the largest digital asset still up by more than two-thirds in 2023 in a rally that has spurred calls of a new bull market.

Bitcoins rally ahead of the Fed set us up for disappointment, and sure enough we saw Bitcoin retreat from just shy of $29,000 after Powells press conference, said Sam Yilmaz, co-founder of venture fund Bloccelerate. A cooling off period is overdue and allows Bitcoin and crypto to settle I still believe Bitcoin could go to $35,000 in a matter of weeks because, put simply, price action breeds price action in crypto.

Cryptos fell in line with the stock market after the Fed hiked rates, a return to Bitcoins correlation with equities after weeks of outperformance. While the rate hike of 25 basis points was priced in, digital assets dropped in step with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 as investors worried about how tightening financial conditions will continue to pressure the banking system.

Beyond Bitcoin, Ether the second-largest cryptofell 2% to $1,750, but was above late-Wednesday lows. Smaller cryptos or altcoins were more mixed, with Cardano up 1% and Polygon 1% lower. Memecoins were slightly weaker, with Dogecoin and Shiba Inu both down less than 1%.

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Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com

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Bitcoin Edges Lower. Crypto Traders Pause Before Another Rally. - Barron's

$14 Trillion Earthquake: Fidelity And BlackRock Are Quietly Laying The Groundwork For The Next Bitcoin, Ethereum And Crypto Price Bull Run – Forbes

BitcoinBTC, ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies are currently trading far below their all-time highsthough one influential investor who saw the Covid pandemic coming thinks that could be about to change.

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The bitcoin price has added around 70% since the beginning of the year as traders brace for a potential Federal Reserve u-turn, helping the ethereum price rally.

Amid the brutal crypto winter that's erased almost $2 trillion of value from the market, two of the world's largest financial institutions with a combined $14 trillion in assets under managementFidelity and BlackRockBLKare quietly expanding into the world of bitcoin, ethereum and cryptocurrency.

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"At BlackRock we continue to explore the digital assets ecosystem, especially areas most relevant to our clients such as permissioned blockchains and tokenization of stocks and bonds," Larry Fink, the chief executive of the world's largest asset manager wrote in his annual letter to shareholders, adding "very interesting developments are happening in the digital asset space."

Last year, Fink predicted crypto's blockchain technology will usher in "the next generation for markets" after signing a major deal with bitcoin and crypto exchange Coinbase.

Meanwhile, Fidelity Investments has now opened up its crypto trading platform to its 37 million users to buy and sell bitcoin and ethereum commission-free, it was first reported by The Block.

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The bitcoin and crypto market has traditionally moved cyclically, surging higher before crashing and then soaring higher again.

Some bitcoin, ethereum and crypto market watchers are pointing to bitcoin's next halving, when the flow of new bitcoin being created will be cut by half, as a potential catalyst for the next bitcoin price bull run.

"Were about a year away from bitcoins next halving," Alex Thorn, Galaxys head of research, said in emailed comments. "Historically, these have been bullish events for the digital asset."

The next bitcoin halving is scheduled for late April 2024 and will see the bitcoin block reward issued to miners cut to 3.1 bitcoin, down from 6.2 currently.

I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world. As the founding editor of Verdict.co.uk I reported on how technology is changing business, political trends, and the latest culture and lifestyle. I have covered the rise of bitcoin and cryptocurrency since 2012 and have charted its emergence as a niche technology into the greatest threat to the established financial system the world has ever seen and the most important new technology since the internet itself. I have worked and written for CityAM, the Financial Times, and the New Statesman, amongst others. Follow me on Twitter @billybambrough or email me on billyATbillybambrough.com.Disclosure: I occasionally hold some small amount of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

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$14 Trillion Earthquake: Fidelity And BlackRock Are Quietly Laying The Groundwork For The Next Bitcoin, Ethereum And Crypto Price Bull Run - Forbes

Bitcoin Price Corrects But Uptrend Is Still Intact and BTC Could Rally Again – NewsBTC

Bitcoin price started a downside correction from the $28,500 resistance zone. BTC found support near $26,600 and is currently attempting a fresh increase.

Bitcoin price failed to clear the $28,500 resistance zone and reacted to the downside. The fed increased rates from 4.75% to 5%, which resulted in a bearish reaction. BTC declined below the $27,500 support zone.

Besides, there was a break below a key bullish trend line with support near $27,900 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. The pair even traded below the $27,000 level. A low is formed near $26,623 and the price is now correcting losses.

Bitcoin price climbed above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $28,879 swing high to $26,623 low. It is still trading below $27,800 and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

On the upside, an immediate resistance is near the $27,750 level and trading below $27,800 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. It is near the 50% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $28,879 swing high to $26,623 low.

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

The next major resistance is near the $28,000 zone. A close above the $28,000 resistance might start another major increase. In the stated case, the price could rise towards the $28,500 level. Any more gains might send the price towards the $28,850 resistance zone.

If bitcoin price fails to clear the $28,000 resistance, it could start anther decline. An immediate support on the downside is near the $27,000 zone.

The next major support is near the $26,600 zone. Any more losses might send the price towards the $26,000 support zone. The next major support is near the $25,200 level.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD The MACD is now losing pace in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) The RSI for BTC/USD is now below the 50 level.

Major Support Levels $27,000, followed by $26,600.

Major Resistance Levels $27,750, $28,000 and $28,500.

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Bitcoin Price Corrects But Uptrend Is Still Intact and BTC Could Rally Again - NewsBTC

Why Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and XRP Are Rising Today – The Motley Fool

What happened

The price of several cryptocurrencies moved higher today after the Federal Reserve concluded its March meeting yesterday, as well as due to some token-specific news.

Since late afternoon yesterday, the price of the world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC 4.76%), traded about 4.8% higher as of 12:02 p.m. ET today, with Bitcoin above $28,700. Meanwhile, the price of XRP(XRP 4.84%) traded roughly 7.2% higher, and the meme token Dogecoin (DOGE 3.39%) was up close to 8%.

The Fed concluded its meeting yesterday with a quarter-point hike to interest rates, bringing the Fed's overnight benchmark lending rate, the federal funds rate, to inside a range of 4.75% and 5%. The Fed also seemed to take a more dovish tone and indicate that its rate-hiking campaign may soon come to an end.

Image source: Getty Images.

Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market have been pummeled since the Fed began raising interest rates to combat some of the highest levels of inflation seen in about four decades. Rising interest rates have made short-term U.S. Treasury bills attractive to invest in, as well as riskier assets like Bitcoin much less favorable.

While the Fed had been a lot more hawkish earlier this month, the recent bank crisis, which resulted in several banks collapsing, has softened its tone. The main reason for this change is that banks are likely to tighten credit in the upcoming months as they further monitor liquidity and also brace for credit normalization in their existing loan portfolios. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said during his press conference yesterday that this may have a chilling effect on the economy, doing some of the Fed's work for it.

Dogecoin seems to be benefiting from a tweet from Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who responded to another tweet from a user about visiting the U.S. and watching SpaceX's upcoming Starship launch. "Okay, but it will cost 3 Doge," Musk replied.

That seemed to incite some belief that Musk will eventually incorporate crypto payments into Twitter, including Dogecoin. Given Musk's influence over the Dogecoin community, it is not surprising to see investors getting excited over a Musk tweet.

XRP seems to be benefiting from the belief that a court ruling is soon coming in a closely followed lawsuit between Ripple, the company that created XRP, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC sued Ripple, claiming it sold unregistered securities when it issued $1.3 billion in XRP cryptocurrency many years ago. Many believe Ripple will win the case, setting a precedent that will make it harder for the SEC to classify many cryptocurrencies as securities, which has been a long-running debate between the crypto community and SEC.

I think the move among cryptocurrencies is largely because of the belief that the Fed will soon pivot and that interest rates are not going to rise to 6%, which seemed like a possibility prior to the banking crisis. Cryptocurrencies, which were started in response to the Great Recession and wider distrust in the mainstream financial system, also tend to rise when traditional banks or currencies like the U.S. dollar struggle.

I believe Bitcoin is going to be here for the long haul and will be a good long-term buy. I do think XRP and its network have some interesting capabilities and could stand to benefit from winning the SEC case. That said, I have no interest in Dogecoin because I don't think the cryptocurrency or blockchain network offers anything particularly unique.

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Why Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and XRP Are Rising Today - The Motley Fool