Chill Crypto | News | Bitcoin

2022-10-10 15:55:24 ​​Not a minor adjustment: Bitcoin mining difficulty soars 13.5% to new ATH

There is no bear market for the builders of the Bitcoin network as more and more Bitcoin miners are joining the network, driving up the difficulty.

It’s a new all-time high–for the Bitcoin mining difficulty. Hot on the heels of the Bitcoin hash rate hitting new highs, the difficulty adjustment or the ease at which Bitcoin miners are able to solve valid blocks has increased by 13.55%.

Despite pressure from falling prices in 2022, The difficulty adjustment continues its steady march upward from the lows of August 2021. It hit an all-time high of 35.61T on October 10, following a period in which six blocks were solved in rapid succession.

For Mark Morton, CEO of Scilling Digital Mining, a Bitcoin mining company based in Ireland, "The Next difficulty adjustment suggests that miners are still finding sufficient profit margins to turn on new machines and are likely capitalizing on plummeting machine prices."

Morton also mentioned that soaring difficulty and hash rate are “very positive for the security of the Bitcoin network. We are witnessing network security skyrocket even despite the drawdown in Bitcoin price.”

The difficulty adjustment occurs roughly every two weeks or 2,016 blocks. Given that blocks have been solved on average slightly less than the target of ten minutes, the difficulty adjustment increased. According to Braiins, a Bitcoin mining tools company, the average time was just shy of 9 minutes over the most recent 2,016 blocks, known as an epoch.

In the Bitcoin whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto explains that "If they're blocks generated too fast, the difficulty increases." In full:"To compensate for increasing hardware speed and varying interest in running nodes over time, the proof-of-work difficulty is determined by a moving average targeting an average number of blocks per hour."

Morton told Cointelegraph that the plummeting price combined with soaring difficulty could challenge miners who mismanaged their finances during the 2021 bull market. Indeed, threats of miner capitulation loom during the 2022 bear market, while some miners were forced to sell some of their holdings over the summer.

Morton explained, “Miners that assumed we would have an up-only market and purchased machines at elevated prices will certainly be feeling the pinch.” Some Bitcoin miners have begun looking at ways in which to mitigate their costs, such as using waste heat to maintain steady temperatures in workspaces. Open / Comment

2022-10-02 13:13:49 ​​Transit Swap loses over $21M due to code bug exploit, issues apology

“We are deeply sorry,” stated Transit Swap while revealing that a bug in the code allowed a hacker to make away with an estimated $21 million.

Transit Swap, a multi-chain decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator, lost roughly $21 million after a hacker exploited an internal bug on a swap contract. Following the revelation, Transit Swap issued an apology to the users while efforts to track down and recover the stolen funds are underway.

“We are deeply sorry,” stated Transit Swap while revealing that a bug in the code allowed a hacker to make away with an estimated $21 million. Blockchain investigator Peckshield narrowed down the attack to a compatibility issue or misplaced trust in the swap contract. Open / Comment

2022-09-25 13:19:28 ​​LUNC investors react to CZ's 1.2% trading tax recommendation on Binance

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, recommended a flat 1.2% trading tax on LUNC trades that could be burned to reduce the token’s total supply and improve its price performance.

The infamous collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which erased market prices of TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA tokens, continues to trouble anxious investors as co-founder Do Kwon, crypto exchanges and the community together tries to identify the best route for a sustainable price recovery.

Most recently, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the CEO of crypto exchange Binance, recommended a flat 1.2% trading tax on LUNC trades that could be burned to reduce the token’s total supply and improve its price performance. Addressing the community, CZ stated:

“We will implement an opt-in button (on the Binance exchange), for people to opt-in to pay a 1.2% tax for their LUNC trading.”

However, the exchange would begin the taxation for opt-in traders following the consensus of 25% of the LUNC investors, making sure that early adopters “are not the only few paying an extra 1.2%.”

A blanket trading tax of 1.2% will be implemented for all LUNC trading only after opt-in traders reach 50% of the total LUNC trading volume on the exchange.

The recommendation split up the LUNA community as some supported CZ’s decision to implement the opt-in button while others interpreted it as market manipulation from a centralized entity.

CZ backed LUNC burning but believes in community voting, allowing traders on the platform to finalize the suggestion, adding, “We listen to and protect our users.” However, the entrepreneur is aware that unless the change is implemented across all exchanges and on-chain, LUNC traders would prefer moving assets to other exchanges that don’t have the burn. Open / Comment

2022-09-14 13:11:15 ​​Selling the rumor? Biggest Ethereum Merge staker Lido DAO loses 40% in 30 days

LDO price faces downside risks from "sell-the-news" sentiment coupled with a bearish technical setup.

Lido DAO (LDO) has declined by more than 40% in the last 30 days with more room to fall in the coming days amid a potential sell-the-news event, i.e. the Merge.

Lido DAO Ether deposits surge 160% in 2022
Lido DAO is Ethereum's biggest staking service, having deposited over 4.14 million of the blockchain's native asset, Ether (ETH), into the Ethereum 2.0 smart contract on behalf of its users, according to the latest data.

In comparison, Lido DAO's total staked amount was around 1.6 million ETH at the beginning of this year. The boom reflects a growing demand for Lido DAO services ahead of Ethereum's scheduled transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake via the Merge on Sep. 15.

LDO, a governance token in the Lido DAO ecosystem, has also undergone an unprecedented price rally in recent months, up more than 350% after bottoming out at $0.39 in June.

Still, the token's sharp correction in the past month raises the possibility of an extended downtrend now that the pre-Merge hype is nearing its end. In addition, a technical setup also alerts about a potential price decline ahe.

LDO hints at descending triangle reversal
The latest selling period in the Lido DAO market started after LDO topped at $3.10 on Aug. 13. This downtrend has painted a pattern that appears to be a descending triangle.

Descending triangles that form at the top suggest bullish exhaustion. Theoretically, a descending triangle breakdown below the lower trendline—could crash the price to the level at length equal to the maximum triangle height.

LDO now tests the triangle's lower trendline area (~$1.79-$1.82) as support. The token could drop toward $1.17 if it breaks below the support level while accompanying a rise in trading volumes. In other words, a 35% drop from current price levels.

Conversely, a rebound from the $1.79-182 support area could have LDO test the descending triangle's upper trendline at around $2.10 as resistance.

Also, a decisive breakout above the upper trendline would risk invalidating the bearish setup discussed above. Open / Comment

2022-09-05 12:55:35 ETH Merge: CoinGecko co-founder shares strategy for forked tokens

Bobby Ong tweeted that holders can bridge their tokens back to the mainnet, unwrap their Ether and remove their liquidity to maximize ETH PoW airdrop eligibility.

Many believe that after Ethereum transitions to proof-of-stake (PoS), a faction of Ether (ETH) miners will be creating a proof-of-work (PoW) fork of the network so that they can still keep mining. An executive believes that there are ways for ETH holders to take advantage of this upcoming event.

In a Twitter thread, Bobby Ong, the co-founder of token information website CoinGecko, shared his strategies when it comes to the upcoming ETH Merge. According to Ong, ETH holders will soon be getting airdrops of ETH PoW tokens and shared some tips on how ETH holders can fully seize this opportunity.

Ong noted that the easiest way to get the fork airdrops is to hold ETH at exchanges that support the forks. However, holding ETH in hardware wallets would also work and could make a trader eligible for all the forked tokens.

To maximize the amount that holders can get, the executive also advised traders to bridge their tokens back to the ETH mainnet, unwrap their wrapped Ether (wETH) and remove their ETH liquidity from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.

Despite these tips, Ong noted that while he may be eligible to get all of the forked tokens, he would not claim all of the airdrops as some of them could be scam attempts that would try to get access to his signature and keys. The executive also shared that his strategy for the forked tokens is to "sell them all immediately." He wrote:

“Almost all the fork tokens are now dead as they are created solely to keep miners temporarily occupied with mining and have no incentive to grow their community and usage.”

Meanwhile, nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea said that it will not be supporting forked NFTs in its platform. The popular NFT trading platform recently announced that it will only support NFTs on the upgraded PoS blockchain. Apart from OpenSea, blockchain oracle project Chainlink also expressed its support for the upgraded ETH network by announcing that PoW forks will not be supported by Chainlink. Open / Comment

2022-08-28 13:38:48 ​​GameFi investors are now prioritizing fun factor over money: Survey

While roughly half of the investors joined the GameFi space initially for profits, 89% of GameFi investors succumbed to Crypto Winter 2022.

GameFi, the fusion of gaming and decentralized finance (DeFi), attracts a set of investors that tend to choose projects based on their use case rather than money-generating potential.

The GameFi ecosystem attracts GenZ investors and gaming enthusiasts. As a result, it stands as an entry point for numerous first-time investors. A ChainPlay survey participated by 2428 GameFi investors revealed that 75% of the respondents joined the crypto space solely because of GameFi.

While roughly half of the investors joined the GameFi space initially for profits, 89% of GameFi investors succumbed to Crypto Winter 2022 — with 62% of them losing more than 50% of their profits.

However, investors believe that poor in-game economy design was the main reason for their losses. In accordance with this sentiment, the survey revealed that, in 2022, investors worldwide spent an average of 2.5 hours per day participating in GameFi, which is down 43% to 4.4 hours from last year.

The fear of rug pulls and Ponzi schemes coupled with sub-par graphics are some of the biggest drivers preventing investments in new GameFi projects. As a result, 44% of investors believe that the involvement of traditional gaming companies can be key to GameFi's growth. Open / Comment

2022-08-24 12:54:48 White hat: I returned most of the stolen Nomad funds and all I got was this silly NFT

Metagame’s founder, who’s behind the NFT offering, said he has no idea whether it’ll actually incentivize hackers to return funds, but it’ll “be cool if it does!”

Hackers behind the $190 million Nomad Bridge are now being incentivized with white hat-themed nonfungible tokens (NFTs) if they return nearly all of the funds they stole from the protocol at the start of this month.

The exclusive NFT, which simply depicts a white wizard’s hat, is being offered by NFT firm Metagame and can be minted by those that return at least 90% of their stolen funds to Nomad. Open / Comment

2022-08-21 12:03:43 ​​FTX revenue reportedly grew 1000% in one year, leaked documents reveal

The revenue breakdown discloses a 1842.85% increase in operating income for FTX, from $14 million to $272 million in FY 2020-21.

FTX was among the many crypto exchanges with a front-row seat to witness the crypto hype of 2021, back when Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies hit their all-time highs. Driven by massive customer onboarding, partnerships, sponsorships and other factors, FTX’s revenue reportedly grew 1000% in 2021 — revealed internal documents.

Audited financials of FY 2020-2021 show FTX witnessing a 1000% increase in revenue — growing from $90 million in 2020 to $1.2 billion in 2021, claimed CNBC alleging access to the documents.

The revenue breakdown discloses a 1842.85% increase in operating income for FTX, from $14 million to $272 million in one year. The crypto exchange amassed $388 million in net income, a 2182.35% increase from last year’s $17 million.

FTX has reportedly made $270 million in the first quarter of 2022. However, the exchange’s track record during the crypto winter is yet to be revealed. Despite the stellar first quarter performance, the ongoing crypto winter has most likely impacted the growth trajectory owing to numerous market crashes.

The report further claims that FTX possessed $2.5 billion in cash by the end of 2021 with a profit margin of 27%.

FTX has not yet responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao recently raised concerns about jitters, a phenomenon wherein an existing trade order gets postponed to allow the completion of newer trades.

While CZ did not explicitly target any particular exchange during the discussion, the crypto community on Twitter assumed it was aimed at FTX. “All of you guys knew and didn't say anything. We need to fight the bad players,” he added. Open / Comment

2022-08-14 13:24:39 Velodrome recovers $350K stolen funds from team member Gabagool

While many community members came in support of the prominent coder, Gabagool owned up to the allegations made against him following Velodrome’s investigation.

Velodrome Finance, a trading and liquidity marketplace, announced the recovery of $350,000 stolen on Aug. 4. However, the occasion turned bittersweet when internal investigations pointed out the involvement of a prominent team member, who goes by the pseudo name Gabagool.

On Aug. 4, one of Velodrome’s high-worth wallets — dedicated for operating funds such as salaries — was drained off $350,000 before it could be transferred to the company’s treasury multisig wallet. A subsequent internal investigation revealed the attacker’s identification, which allowed the company to recover the entire loot. Velodrome’s official statement revealed:

“Much to our disappointment, we learned the attacker was a fellow team member Gabagool.”

While many community members came in support of the prominent coder, Gabagool owned up to the allegations made against him following Velodrome’s investigation.

Nearly six hours into the revelation, Gabagool released a note revealing various events that led him to attempt theft. Velodrome’s biggest mistake was to give ownership of its wallet’s private key to five individuals, which included Gabagool.

Gabagool, just like many other investors, lost vast amounts of money during the 2022 crypto crash. In an attempt to recoup losses, Gabagool made the hasty decision of withdrawing $350,000 in various cryptocurrencies only to convert it to Ether (ETH) and send it to Tornado Cash.

On the other hand, Velodrome disclosed working with the legal counsel to determine the next steps. Going forward, Velodrome has decided to revoke ownership of private keys from team members and instead set up gnosis safes for all monetary operations. Open / Comment

2022-08-07 11:17:58 ​​Amid miner capitulation, Hut 8 maintained BTC ‘HODL strategy’ in July

Other Bitcoin miners such as Core Scientific, Argo Blockchain and Riot Blockchain have reduced their BTC holdings during the bear market.

Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) miner Hut 8 Mining Corp. added to its massive BTC reserves in July, as the firm maintained its long-term “HODL strategy” in the face of market volatility.

The Alberta-based company generated 330 Bitcoin in July at an average production rate of 10.61 BTC per day, bringing its total reserves to 7,736 BTC. Its monthly production rate was equivalent to 113.01 BTC per exahash, the company disclosed Friday.

Hut 8, which trades on the Nasdaq and Toronto stock exchanges, is one of the largest public holders of Bitcoin, according to industry data.

As part of its ongoing HODL strategy, Hut 8 deposited all of its self-mined Bitcoin into custody, bucking the growing industry trend of miners selling portions of their reserves during the bear market. As Cointelegraph reported, Texas miner Core Scientific sold 7,202 BTC in June at an average price of $23,000 to pay for servers and settle debts. The company recouped 1,221 BTC the following month after increasing its mining output by 10%.

Meanwhile, mining outfit Argo Blockchain reduced its holdings by 887 BTC in July to settle a loan agreement with Galaxy Digital and to fund its business operations. Separately, Riot Blockchain trimmed its Bitcoin holdings for a third consecutive month in June to raise capital for its operations.

Bitcoin mining was a highly lucrative business in 2021, as the average revenue per BTC mined was more than four times higher than the prior year’s average. With Bitcoin prices plunging in 2022, underwater miners have been forced to sell into a declining market environment.

Shares of HUT 8 rallied 3.5% on Friday to settle at $2.38. The stock is down nearly 70% year-to-date and 80% from its peak on Nov. 8, 2021, when Bitcoin was trading near $70,000. Open / Comment