Authorities have seized over $41 million from a blockchain mining group in Australia for allegedly operating without a license. According to a new press release by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), civil actions are being taken against the NGS Crypto, NGS Digital and, NGS Group, as well as their respective directors, Brett Mendham, […]
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The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has apprehended three individuals following the theft of bitcoin mining equipment valued at $6.9 million. The Commercial Crimes Division’s Cargo Theft Unit announced the retrieval of all stolen items. California Authorities Arrest Trio for Stealing Bitcoin Mining Hardware On March 19, 2024, the LAPD, along with detectives from the […]
Australian securities regulators are investigating Blockchain Global after a report connected two of its directors to previous crypto schemes. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is investigating Blockchain Global directors Sam Lee and Ryan Xu after a newspaper investigation linked the two to another crypto scheme called Hyperverse, according to a report. Asic began investigating […]
The post Regulators Investigating Collapsed Crypto Firm That Owes Creditors $58,000,000 After Going Bust in 2021: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
It adds to a prior agreement in which Riot bought 33,280 miners from MicroBT. The term sheet was also updated, allowing Riot to buy another 265,000 miners in the future.
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms is buying 66,560 Bitcoin mining rigs from manufacturer MicroBT, in one of its largest orders of hash-rate in the firm’s history — ahead of the Bitcoin halving scheduled for April 2024.
The additional purchase agreement totaled $290.5 million, Riot stated in a Dec.
$Riot Exercises Purchase Option on 18 EH/s of Latest Generation Immersion Miners from MicroBT, and Secures Additional Purchase Options Providing a Path to Exceed 100 EH/s.
(@RiotPlatforms) December 4, 2023
- Riot places order for 18 EH/s of latest generation MicroBT Bitcoin miners, primarily consisting of the… pic.twitter.com/tEEudV6Z8n
The right-to-purchase option was included in Riot’s initial agreement with MicroBT when it agreed to buy 33,280 machines from MicroBT in June.
Riot’s CEO Jason Les said the purchase order is “the largest order of hash rate” in the company’s history and hopes the updated agreement will enable Riot’s mining performance to strengthen further.
Over 48,000 or 72% of the new machines will be MicroBT’s latest model, the M66S, which has a hash rate of 250 terahashes per second (TH/s), while the remaining machines will consist of the M66 (14,770) and M56S++ (3,720) models, Riot noted.
Altogether, the 66,560 miners will add 18 exahashes per second (EH/s) to Riot’s operations.
The regulator alleged that Bit Trade — which is the provider for Kraken in Australia — did not make a target market determination before offering its margin trading product to Australian customers.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has commenced civil penalty proceedings against Bit Trade, the provider of the Kraken crypto exchange in Australia, for failing to comply with design and distribution obligations for one of its trading products.
According to a Sept. 21 media release from ASIC, the Australian financial regulator alleged that Bit Trade did not make a target market determination before offering its margin trading product to Australian customers.
Design and distribution obligations (DDO) are a legal requirement for firms that offer financial products in Australia. The obligations set forward requirements for firms to design financial products that meet pre-determined needs of customers and then distribute them by way of a specific plan.
"ASIC alleges that Bit Trade’s margin trading product is a credit facility as it offers customers credit for use in the sale and purchase of certain crypto assets on the Kraken exchange," said ASIC in a statement.
According to ASIC, Bit Trade has offered its margin trading product to Australian customers via the Kraken exchange since January 2020. Additionally, the regulator alleged since the commencement of the DDOs in Oct. 2021, at least 1160 Australian customers had used Bit Trade's margin trading product and had incurred a total loss of approximately $8.35 million.
"These proceedings should send a message to the crypto industry that products will continue to be scrutinised by ASIC to ensure they comply with regulatory obligations in order to protect consumers," said ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
New developments in the Bitcoin mining space have Hut 8 vice president Sue Ennis convinced that well-positioned miners will thrive after the next BTC halving.
The next Bitcoin halving event is less than nine months away, and the consensus opinion among analysts and investors is that the halving will send Bitcoin’s price to a new all-time high or even above $100,000.
Despite this belief, the absence of fresh inflow to the crypto market, the current macroeconomic headwinds and Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent price action below $30,000 do not inspire much confidence in this theory in the short term.
In a recent interview with Paul Barron, Hut 8 vice president Sue Ennis shared her thoughts on how the Bitcoin price will rise above $100,000 in the next year and how the upcoming halving will impact BTC miners. Hut 8 currently has a balance of 9,152 BTC in reserve, of which 8,305 is unencumbered. The company’s installed ASIC hash rate capacity sits at 2.6 exahashes per second, and Hut 8 mined 44.6 BTC in July.
In the interview, Barron inquired whether rising Bitcoin difficulty for miners could induce a fresh wave of sell pressure against BTC. Citing data from Hashrate Index, Barron observed that spikes in Bitcoin difficulty were followed by drops in BTC’s price.
Barron questioned if miners were selling Bitcoin as a result of the upcoming halving creating a need for more efficient ASICs and whether BTC’s pre- and post-halving price action would not be as bullish as investors expected.
According to Ennis:
“There’s a lot of really unprecedented dynamics that are happening now in the mining space. [...] What’s interesting is hash rate continues to come online despite Bitcoin price trading in a certain band. [...] We’re still seeing hash rate increase.”
Ennis elaborated with:
“What’s changed now is that we’re seeing Bitcoin price come down a little, but hash rate continues to go up. [...] I think what’s really exciting and different is we’re seeing a tremendous amount of new entrants into the global Bitcoin network.”
Ennis referenced six gigawatts of nuclear and renewable energy being generated in the Middle East, and with the region's governments exploring Bitcoin mining as an option, more hash rate is coming online in a way that is somewhat price agnostic. This is drastically different from how publicly traded United States-based and more forward-facing miners operate.
In order to stay afloat after the halving, Ennis suggested that miners need to be in a position to avoid being “single-threaded,” i.e., they need more than one way of earning revenue beyond just mining Bitcoin.
Revenue diversification would include exploring various artificial intelligence (AI) applications, dedicating some warehouse rack space to GPUs for companies specializing in AI training and possibly offering industrial-level ASIC repair services — or even participating in demand-response initiatives with large energy producers and distributors.
Related: September ‘crash’ to $22K? — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
Crypto investors have waited years for the launch of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), and even with the recent influx of applications, an approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission remains elusive.
Despite the history of delays and denials, Ennis said that a “spot ETF coming to market, that’s incredibly bullish for the asset class,” but she also cautioned that an approval could create sell pressure on miner equities given that mining stocks have often been used as a proxy investment to Bitcoin.
Regarding the percentage chance of a spot Bitcoin ETF approval by the end of 2023, Ennis said:
“Definitely better than 50. The real reason for my opinion on that is that BlackRock threw its hat in the ring, BlackRock being powerful and the largest asset manager in the world. For them to throw their hat in the ring and say this is what we want and the amount of clout they’ve had in markets in past initiatives has been tremendous. So I think for them to make this call, that is a real bullish signal.”
Regarding a potential target for the Bitcoin price, Ennis said:
“I definitely do think we could see in this next cycle $100,000 cost per Bitcoin, and that’s based on if BTC were to capture even 2 to 5% of gold’s $13 trillion place in institutional portfolios. If Bitcoin were able to capture even 2 to 3% of gold’s market cap, that would be incredibly accretive to the price and push it north of $100,000.”
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
Melbourne-based crypto lender Helio Lending had previously pleaded guilty to falsely claiming it had an Australian credit license.
Australia-based crypto lender Helio Lending has been sentenced to a non-conviction good behavior bond for a year for falsely claiming it had a local credit license.
On Aug. 17, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Helio was sentenced to the good-behavior bond for a year, having to pay $9,600 (15,000 Australian dollars) if broken.
Good behavior bonds are often granted for less serious offenses. A non-conviction good behavior bond will mean Helios will only be convicted if it breaks its bond, and will have to pay the $9,600.
ASIC said Helio falsely stated it had an Australian credit license in an August 2019 news article that appeared on its website.
Melbourne-based cryptocurrency lender Helio Lending Pty Ltd has been sentenced to a non-conviction bond for falsely claiming that it held an Australian credit licence when it did not https://t.co/GwrQ5VbRBf pic.twitter.com/gOsHHp02xL
— ASIC Media (@asicmedia) August 17, 2023
Helio pleaded guilty which ASIC said was accounted for in the sentencing decision and a charge relating to a false representation of holding a license on Helio’s website was withdrawn.
Helio offered crypto-backed loans and is an Australian subsidiary of the United States-based crypto-focused public holding company Cyios Corporation which also owns the yet-to-launch nonfungible token (NFT) platform Randombly.
ASIC charged Helio in April 2022 over the matter. In a circulating investor update from late 2018, Helio claimed it received the license by buying out Cash Flow Investments and its held license.
Related: Australia’s Bendigo Bank blocks high-risk payments to crypto exchanges
ASIC’s latest win follows other crypto-related suits its launched in recent weeks.
Earlier in August the regulator sued the trading platform eToro alleging its screening tests before offering leveraged derivative contracts to retail investors were insufficient.
Finder.com was also sued in December, with ASIC claiming the financial product comparison site’s crypto yield-bearing product was offered without the required license.
Magazine: Crypto City guide to Sydney — More than just a ‘token’ bridge
U.K.-based research company Quantum Blockchain Technologies has developed algorithmic search methods that boost Bitcoin mining efficiency and reward probability.
Quantum Blockchain Technologies (QBT), a research company based in the United Kingdom, has developed artificial intelligence-powered algorithms that could significantly increase the mining winning probability of certain ASIC Bitcoin (BTC) miners, CEO Francesco Gardin said in an interview with Cointelegraph.
Speaking exclusively to the publication, Gardin unpacked how Quantum Blockchain Technologies (QBT) has incorporated AI to enable the smart search of winning hashes as an alternative to conventional random searches.
In the space of two years, the company has developed a number of different patented methods by tapping into the expertise of some twenty experts from the fields of quantum computing, machine learning, cryptography, ASIC chips design and algorithm optimization theory.
Related: Bitcoin miners still bullish despite toughest bear market yet — Hut8, Foundry, Braiins
QBT’s machine learning teams have developed two different algorithmic search methods which reportedly improve performance of ASIC miners by increasing efficiency and winning result probabilities.
“Method A” is said to improve miner efficiency by 10% while “Method B” is set to improve the probability of a miner finding a winning has by 260%.
Gardin said that the company is looking to explore three specific areas, starting with a short term target of increasing mining performance of existing commercial ASIC chips by adding a software AI component running on a mining rig.
The team is also designing a new architecture for ASIC mining chips to optimize Bitcoin mining, which it detailed in a recent patent application.
Meanwhile QBT has a long term goal of using quantum computers to mine Bitcoin using an in-development SHA-256 computation method that can operate on quantum computing systems.
QBT announced a patent application in July 2023 for the latter, outlining its architectural change to Bitcoin mining ASIC chips which it claims pre-processes data used by future blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Gardin said the QBT Message Scheduling for Cryptographic Hashing ASIC (MSFCA) is able to perform pre-calculations of future BTC blocks before the current block is closed. The “anticipatory resource efficiency algorithm” reduces logic gates of SHA-256 ASIC architecture.
Logic gates are software or hardware devices that carry out logical operations. According to Gardin, MSFCA allows miners to use less logic gates, lowering energy costs and improving efficiency of ASIC mining hardware.
Related: Tether’s game plan in El Salvador: Why invest in Volcano Energy?
The firm estimates that miners could free up to 8% of logic gates of SHA-256 ASIC chips by pre-processing data used by future blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain, which would make certain logic gates involved in the computation of that data no longer necessary on the ASIC chip.
Gardin also weighed in on the potential for these new methods to influence the Bitcoin mining industry. The QBT said that BTC mining is highly dependent on hardware configurations and hashing power of miners as well as expending considerable amounts of energy.
Gardin added that the probability of finding the winning hash increases with the number and halving speed of a miners’ fleet or an entire pool as well as the corresponding cost of energy while conducting a “completely random search”.
“There are no methods, intelligence, or strategy in current BTC mining, but simply brute force and luck.”
Although the mining rigs market is dominated by just a handful of ASIC manufacturers, Gardin believes that there are minimal differences, features or distinct advances between hardware aside from differences in hashing rates and power consumption.
He added that QBT’s technology, which was mainly developed using Intel’s Blockscale ASIC chips which were recently pulled from production, would provide advantages to any mining rig.
The firm’s technologies are being touted to give an “uncatchable advantage” using AI and SHA-256 optimization and while QBT does not plan to open source its patented methods, Gardin said QBT is considering different options to take its solutions to the Bitcoin mining market.
This could include subscription, licensing, forming a joint venture or outright purchase of the company and its associated technologies.
Magazine: Bitcoin is on a collision course with ‘Net Zero’ promises
Blockstream intends to buy and store ASIC mining hardware ahead of Bitcoin’s halving in 2024.
Blockchain technology firm Blockstream is looking to raise up to $50 million to purchase and store mining equipment that it perceives to be undervalued on secondary markets.
Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph, Blockstream mining sales head James Macedonio unpacked the company’s plans to take advantage of a “huge separation” in the value of Bitcoin (BTC) and ASIC mining equipment.
Blockstream is partnering with Luxembourg-based digital securities marketplace STOKR to launch the Blockstream ASIC (BASIC) Note. Macedonio said that blockstream will look to initially secure $5 million for its Series 1 BASIC Notes, each valued at $115,000, to buy ASICs at scale, store and then sell them back to the market as demand for hardware picks up into 2024.
The 24-month investment note is set to be available to accredited international investors, while Macedonio said that the firm anticipates seeing returns in 12 to 18 months, factoring in Bitcoin’s next mining reward halving earmarked for April 2024.
Blockstream also notes that BASIC is intended as a Bitcoin basis investment vehicle that aims to "generate a bitcoin-on-bitcoin return". The company also expects that majority of investments to be made with BTC.
According to Macedonio, the price of ASIC miners — specialized hardware used to mine proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin — is nearly 10 times lower than their peak around December 2021.
“The price of Bitcoin is half of what it was, but ASICS are a tenth of what they were, and historically they’ve been highly correlated.”
Blockstream’s team has previously noted that the value of ASIC miners typically correlates to the price movements of Bitcoin, with BTC appreciation leading to an increase in miner prices.
Macedonio notes some factors that have impacted the stagnant price of mining hardware compared with Bitcoin’s recent price recovery to current levels of around $30,000.
“A lot of companies over-leveraged themselves using Bitcoin as collateral. So when Bitcoin went down, they defaulted. Some of those lenders had a large inventory of miners that were pushed into the market.”
Soaring energy prices in 2022 challenged Bitcoin profitability for miners, which also played a role in the oversupply of ASIC miners on secondary markets. Macedonio said that the lack of recovery for ASIC miner prices is driven by a lack of capacity to operate the machinery and difficulty raising funds to acquire more hardware.
Related: Blockstream raises $125M to finance expanded Bitcoin mining operations
Blockstream anticipates a positive price correction for ASIC hardware and plans to raise capital to purchase ASIC hardware to be stored in bonded warehouses.
Blockstream will look to raise a target of $50 million through $5 million tranches. Macedonio added that while the company will look to acquire the most efficient machines on secondary markets, the possibility of a Bitcoin bull run could drive demand for less efficient machines:
“If Bitcoin goes to $70,000 or more, people are going to try to get their hands on any ASICs they can just to start mining because their profitability would be so great.”
Blockstream is primarily planning to purchase Bitmain and MicroBT mining equipment, with Macedonio highlighting that the hardware is prevalent and historically has good resale value.
Magazine: Bitcoin is on a collision course with ‘Net Zero’ promises
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleged eToro users with no understanding of CFD product risks could still buy them on the platform.
Australia’s financial regulator has sued trading platform eToro over one of the leveraged trading products it offered to retail investors, alleging inappropriate screening tests caused thousands of users to lose money.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said on Aug. 3 it commenced Federal Court proceedings over eToro’s contract for difference (CFD) product for targeting too wide a market and breaching design and distribution rules.
CFDs are a type of leveraged derivatives contract that allows buyers to speculate on price movements of an underlying asset such as foreign exchange rates, stock market indices, single equities, commodities, or cryptocurrencies — all of which eToro offers.
ASIC alleged the CFDs offered by eToro were "high-risk and volatile" and the platform’s target market screening test didn’t properly exclude unsuitable customers from trading the product, stating:
“eToro’s screening test was very difficult to fail and of no real use in excluding customers for who the CFD product was not likely to be appropriate."
“For example, clients could amend their answers without limitation and clients were prompted if they selected answers which could result in them failing," it said.
ASIC is suing eToro for allegedly breaching design and distribution obligations and their licence obligations to act efficiently, honestly and fairly #CFD
— ASIC Media (@asicmedia) August 2, 2023
eToro’s crypto CFDs allow for up to two times leverage on certain assets. Others cover stocks, currencies, commodities and precious metals.
ASIC’s filing notice said CFD product risks were heightened where the underlying assets also had their own risks which included “extremely high-risk and volatile products such as crypto-assets.”
The regulator also alleged that eToro’s CFD target market was too broad, where users that had no understanding of CFD trading risks could still fall within its target.
“ASIC alleges that between 5 October 2021 and 14 June 2023, almost 20,000 of eToro’s clients lost money trading CFDs,” it added.
Related: Robinhood turns profitable in Q2, but crypto revenue declines
ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said CFD issuers “cannot simply reverse engineer their target markets to fit existing client bases” and expressed disappointment in eToro’s alleged lack of compliance.
Cointelegraph contacted eToro and ASIC for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
In the United States, eToro halted trading in four cryptocurrencies following the tokens being labeled as securities in lawsuits by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Magazine: Crypto City guide to Sydney — More than just a ‘token’ bridge
