El Salvador, the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, has reportedly added 473.5 BTC to its treasury using geothermal energy. According to reports, official data released by The Bitcoin Office of El Salvador (ONBTC) disclosed that this number of bitcoin was mined since 2021 using 1.5 MW of power from the Tecapa volcanic […]
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Bitcoin Miner Riot Platforms Records Modest Revenue Gain Despite 36% Decrease in Mined BTC
Riot Platforms Inc., an integrated bitcoin mining company, reported revenues exceeding .3 million in the first quarter of 2024. The revenue increase was slight, rising from .2 million to .3 million. Remarkably, this was achieved even as Riot Platforms experienced a 36% decrease in the number of bitcoins mined, down to 1,364. Modest Growth Noted […]
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Halving Milestone: Block 840,000 Mined, Ushering in a New Chapter as Bitcoin Miners Face Shrinking Rewards
At 8:12 p.m. ET on Friday, April 19, 2024, the Bitcoin network marked its fourth block reward halving at block height 840,000. Block 840,000 was mined by Viabtc, securing the notable ‘epic satoshi’ for the fortunate mining pool and a 3.125 BTC reward. The Halving Is Now Complete Bitcoin’s latest halving event occurred at block […]
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Over 93% of Bitcoin Mined Ahead of Fourth Halving, Signaling New Era of Scarcity
As of the current moment, 93.6% of bitcoin’s total supply has already been mined, leaving only 1.34 million bitcoins remaining to be extracted. After the upcoming halving event, the issuance rate of the leading digital currency will decelerate, significantly reducing its availability more than ever before. Additionally, post the 2028 halving, miners will receive 1.5625 […]
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With 93% of Bitcoin’s Supply Mined, Network’s Hashrate and Difficulty Surge in Synchrony
On Sunday, November 19, 2023, Bitcoin’s hashrate maintained a steady pace at 468 exahash per second (EH/s), surpassing the intended ten-minute block interval average. The most recent block was processed in just 7 minutes and 37 seconds. Present observations suggest that if this trend in block intervals persists, the network could anticipate a 3% increase in difficulty, marking the seventh consecutive rise since September 19.
Efficient Mining Tech and Higher Prices Fuel Bitcoin’s Rapid Hashrate Growth in 2023
As of block height 817,532, a significant 93.08% of all bitcoins destined to be in circulation have already been mined, amounting to roughly 19,546,861.78 BTC at the time of writing. Block times have been consistently shorter than the target average of ten minutes, ranging between 9 minutes and 43 seconds to 7 minutes and 37 seconds, with a median average of 9 minutes and 40 seconds over the last day.
Despite the previous difficulty adjustment, Bitcoin’s hashrate continues to climb, with its seven-day simple moving average (SMA) hovering around 468 EH/s. This figure is slightly below the seven-day SMA peak of 475 EH/s, achieved on November 5, 2023. Given the sustained rising hashrate and faster block intervals, an increase in mining difficulty appears likely. Current predictions indicate a potential 3% increase during the next difficulty period, scheduled for November 26, 2023.
With just over 22,000 blocks remaining until the next halving, the accelerated block production rate suggests the milestone event might occur as early as February 2024, or in March. However, calculations based on a steady ten-minute block average point to April 20, 2024, as the more likely date. An anticipated 3% jump in difficulty would raise it to 67.68 trillion from the present 64.68 trillion, significantly challenging miners in their quest for block rewards. Over the past two months, difficulty has increased bi-weekly, and this trend will eventually impact bitcoin (BTC) miners when it gets to a certain point.
The increase in Bitcoin’s hashrate can be linked to several elements, including the introduction of more efficient mining machines delivering higher terahash per second (TH/s) output, coupled with a BTC price surge of 120% since January 2023. During this period, Bitcoin’s hashrate experienced a substantial growth of 207 EH/s, while the difficulty escalated from 34.09 trillion to the present 64.68 trillion. This reflects a remarkable 79% rise in hashrate and an even more significant increase in difficulty, exceeding 89%.
What do you think about Bitcoin’s hashrate and difficulty peaking in unison? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Jurat Launches Layer-1 Mined by Attorneys
PRESS RELEASE. A group of attorneys and blockchain engineers are building a new Bitcoin fork blockchain using an emerging legal enforcement protocol that bridges the blockchain to state and federal courts. Called Jurat, the protocol enables capabilities like freezing disputed coins or recovering stolen coins after a hack, all under the auspices of the justice system. The native coin of the new fork is called $JTC.
The primary objectives for the new blockchain are to ensure robust consumer protection for cryptocurrency users and provide on-chain enforcement for legal rights afforded in commercial transactions, property transfers, and the banking system.
The $JTC token is due to be listed on exchanges in the near future. At this time, $JTC mining is open for licensed attorneys in all jurisdictions and may be made available to legacy Bitcoin miners in the future.
Attorneys Line Up To Participate
To start the process for becoming a $JTC miner, attorneys should complete the mining information request form, available on Jurat’s website.
$JTC miners receive $JTC tokens as compensation for supporting the network and helping court rulings to execute on-chain. Mining with Jurat also offers attorneys the chance to become better acquainted with the technology underlying blockchain transactions and participate in a more legally compliant Web3.
Mining by Non-Attorneys
Mining applications for Jurat are currently open to licensed attorneys only. Jurat may expand to include legacy Bitcoin miners in the future.
How to obtain $JTC
$JTC forked at Bitcoin block height 717808, which occurred on January 8, 2022. All addresses that contained $BTC as of that block received $JTC at a 1:1 ratio to their $BTC and can claim the coins using the Jurat Wallet, which is available for Android (Play Store), IOS (App Store), Windows (Jurat.io), and Mac (Mac App Store).
Currently, $JTC cannot be bought on exchanges but will be listed soon. l
Why Does Blockchain Need Jurat?
Jurat was founded by Mike Kanovitz, a partner at Loevy & Loevy in Chicago, USA, who works in Web3 and traditional civil litigation. He conceived of Jurat as a means to provide consumer protection in the crypto space after seeing many clients victimized by fraud and theft.
“Witnessing people lose their hard-earned savings to hackers and phishing scams only to be left with no legal recourse inspired me to create Jurat. “said Mike Kanovitz, Jurat CEO and co-founder.
After creating the protocol and proving that legal rights could be enforced on-chain without sacrificing the benefits of decentralization, Kanovitz recognized that the technology could help make blockchains safer and more usable for mainstream commercial transactions.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to benefit consumers and businesses in countless ways, but the absence of an effective layer for enforcing legal rights prevents it from achieving mainstream adoption,” he said.
The $JTC Bitcoin fork uses Jurat to offer the unique ability to recover digital assets and freeze accounts associated with illicit activities. The protocol can provide legal recourse for users without involving intermediaries or asset custodians while maintaining the full decentralization of the network. There are four steps to the process:
- A $JTC user who needs legal recourse because of on-chain crime, a mistaken transaction, or lost private keys can create a Jurat request ID through the Jurat UI. The Jurat ID is a string of characters that specifies the transaction that the claimant wants the court to order. For example, a transaction to send coins from a scammer’s wallet back to the true owner. Armed with the ID, the user can bring the matter to court.
- After filing a case, the user provides the ID to the court. If the judge agrees with the lawsuit, they signify this to Jurat blockchain nodes by including the ID in their written opinion and placing it on the court’s public docket.
- Once on the public docket, specialized nodes can access the court’s opinion and recognize the Jurat ID. The code informs the nodes that the judge has ruled and what transaction the judge has ordered.
- Each miner then verifies the court order, like verifying a private key signature. The process is automatic and does not require any intermediaries.
$JTC has already been used live in court. Recently, a US federal judge considered the cryptocurrency accounts of several sanctioned individuals, including a wallet belonging to North Korean state-sponsored hackers called the Lazarus Group. The court ordered the hackers’ accounts frozen, and the Jurat nodes executed the court orders automatically and seamlessly, preventing the hackers from spending the $JTC in the sanctioned accounts.
Jurat miners are rewarded for maintaining the blockchain with $JTC rewards.
Building Legal3 With Jurat
The success of Jurat technology in the case brought against the Lazarus group, and others is an early step in Jurat’s broader goal of introducing a legal base layer for every transaction in Web3.
Jurat will continue to add new attorneys to its mining operation as the $JTC launch date draws closer and encourages all attorneys who have a passion for justice on the blockchain to apply.
Join the Jurat communities on Telegram & Discord to keep updated with the latest Jurat news.
This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.
Bitcoin Records Largest Mined Block to Date, 4 MB Block Containing NFT Causes Unease Among Small-Block Supporters
Amid the controversy surrounding the Ordinals project and the debate over what types of data should be stored on the Bitcoin blockchain, the network mined its largest block, nearly 4 MB in size, containing just 63 transactions. One of the transactions was a 3.94 MB Ordinal inscription featuring an image of a wizard, and the Bitcoin-issued non-fungible token (NFT) has generated significant discussion.
Small Block Advocates Speak Out Against the 4 MB Bitcoin Block With NFT Inscription
On Feb. 1, 2023, the Luxor mining pool mined the largest block (#774,628) ever recorded on the Bitcoin network, approximately 3.96 MB. The coinbase parameter of the block contains a message indicating its discovery by Luxor. The mining pool also took to Twitter to inform the community about the discovery and the reason for the large size of the block.
“Last night, Luxor harnessed its magic energy and freed an ancient wizard from his cosmic cage where he had been trapped for many epochs,” the mining pool tweeted. “Keen observers of the chain of time may have noticed a 4 MB anomaly, unlike anything seen before. Will there be others?” The tweet also included an image of the “Taproot Wizard,” an Ordinal inscription #652, attached to the block. Taproot, a feature applied to the Bitcoin network on Nov. 12, 2021, was activated at block height 709,632 and brought several new benefits to BTC users.
A 3.96 MB block #774628 has been just added to Bitcoin by @LuxorTechTeam exploiting buggy Taproot! The previous record was just 2.77 MB. Here’s the list of the largest blocks: https://t.co/LsavqjLFEq
This will trigger many! Are we on the verge of a new blocksize war? 🤓
— Nikita Zhavoronkov (@nikzh) February 2, 2023
Essentially, Taproot allows multiple participants in a transaction to create a single combined digital signature, making transactions more efficient and private. Since the creation of Ordinals, it has been discovered that using a Segregated Witness (Segwit) “discount” in combination with Taproot allows for a full block to be 4 MB in size, bypassing the 1 MB limit encoded in the Bitcoin blockchain. It was previously known that Segwit slightly increased block sizes, with the largest block before Luxor’s 3.96 MB being 2.765 MB (#748,918) mined on Aug. 11, 2022.
Concerns Raised Over Immutable Nature of Bitcoin and So-Called ‘Dangerous’ Content
Meanwhile, Ordinals were already controversial among some bitcoin maximalists, and the 4 MB block mined with only 63 transactions and a Wizard JPEG caused further upset. For instance, bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr, who called Ordinals an “attack,” quickly created a node patch to filter or censor Ordinal “spam.” “NOT a protocol change or soft fork/hard fork, just a harmless (if it works right) spam filter,” Dashjr wrote. “Also a quick hack and NOT suitable for opening a PR to Core – please write a proper fix for that.”
Many bitcoin advocates were dissatisfied with the record-breaking block size, and the topic was discussed on the Reddit forum r/bitcoin. The most upvoted comment in the thread read: “I would much rather see such a block full of real monetary transactions from thousands of people, instead of this idiocy.”
Another individual agreed with this opinion and argued that the Taproot scheme that produced a 4 MB block was dangerous. “Yeah … This is rather dangerous. We’re one bad actor or one automated miner away from cementing vile and disgusting things to a permanent, globally distributed, uncensorable database. It will be interesting to see if there is a free market solution to this.”
Someone has just uploaded DOOM to the BTC blockchain.
Go here to try it out:https://t.co/DLuBYj06CS
— Hector Lopez (@hlopez_) February 2, 2023
In addition to the stir caused by the Wizard-block Ordinal, an unsavory image was inscribed into inscription #668. Although the image was removed from the Ordinals website, it remains immutable and cannot be removed from the Bitcoin blockchain. Furthermore, a game, “DOOM,” was uploaded to the blockchain and can be found in inscription #466.
Some bitcoin advocates expressed dissatisfaction with the mining pool Luxor, which mined the 4 MB block. One person responded to Luxor’s tweet, saying, “There’s nothing revolutionary in what you did. You stuffed a nasty JPEG with zero artistic value into the blockchain. Okay…you could have crafted the same stupid image 10,000 times smaller. Why did you make it 4 MB? Because it’s mischief; you are trolls.”
What is your take on the 4 MB block controversy in the Bitcoin network? Do you believe it is a potential threat or a harmless addition to the blockchain? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
90% Of Total Bitcoin Supply Has Been Mined. How Long Will The Rest Take?
Bitcoin has been the leading choice for investors in the crypto space being the first of its kind. However, there is more to why the cryptocurrency is so attractive for investors. The limited supply of the digital asset has secured its reputation as a deflationary asset, making it a great inflation hedge. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins that will be mined.
BTC mining has now been going on for a little over a decade now. For the first eight years or so, mining activities remained pretty flat but picked up once the 2017/2018 bull market picked up. Since then, bitcoins have been mined at a rapid rate and despite multiple halvings taking place over the years, 90% of the total BTC supply has now been mined.
Related Reading | Why “Bitcoin Creator” Craig Wright Came Out Ahead Despite Having To Pay 0 Million
Majority Of Bitcoin Mined
On Monday, bitcoin officially clocked 90% of its total supply mined. Over 18.89 million BTC has now been successfully mined since bitcoin was first launched in 2009, according to data from Blockchain.com. This number and the rate of mining have led to concerns about an impending supply shock in the market.
As bitcoin grows in popularity, the demand for the digital asset is no doubt going to skyrocket. It is presently estimated that only about 5% of the total global population knows about bitcoin. A recent study showed that 55% of total bitcoin holders got into the market this year alone. As the world becomes one big global village, digital currencies like BTC will see increasing yields.
Total BTC mined reaches 90% of total supply | Source: Blockchain
Another reason for an impending supply shock is that investors have no intention to sell the assets that they hold. Most BTC holders have proven to be long-term holders and as they continue to hold on to these coins, there will be less supply left in the market. This dwindling market supply will likely see the price of the asset surge immensely in the coming years.
How Long Will It Take To Mine The Rest?
Despite it only taking about 12 years for the majority of the bitcoin supply to be mined, the remaining 10% of the supply will take almost 10 times longer to mind. This is due to the halvings that occur every four years. Basically, the BTC rewards paid out to miners per block mined are cut in half with each halving. Currently, this number sits at 6.25 BTC paid out per mined block.
Related Reading | Bitcoin Active Addresses Recovers Above 1 Million
With each halving, this number will go down greatly, and it is estimated that the last bitcoin will not be mined until 2140, over 100 years from now. This guarantees bitcoin’s longevity, as well as guarantees continued supply, albeit to a smaller extent each time.
BTC falls to K | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
That said, not all of the mined bitcoins will go into circulation. About 20% of the total supply is presumed to be lost forever from people either forgetting their private keys or dying and leaving no way for anyone to access these coins. So, even when the total 21 million BTC is mined, there will never be as many as 21 million coins in circulation, contributing to the supply squeeze.
Featured image from NationalWorld, chart from TradingView.com
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Data Shows Nearly 90% of Bitcoin Has Been Mined, Here’s How Long It Will Take To Mine The Rest
Bitcoin mining is still one of the hotly debated parts of the blockchain. Miners, no doubt make a good amount for blocks mined given the current price of BTC. But mining difficulty has also gone up as more BTC are mined.
In its decade-long history, over 18.6 million of Bitcoin’s 21 million total supply has been mined. This constitutes almost 90% of all BTC’s supply. This leaves a little over 10% of BTC left to be mined. Currently, there are about 2.250 million coins left to be mined.
Related Reading | Market Analyst Sees Bitcoin Peaking At 0,000 By Year-End
At the current rate, it is estimated that the last bitcoin will be mined about 120 years from now. This is due to halving events that will occur every four years, reducing the supply of BTC going into circulation every four years.
Mining Bitcoin In 2009 Versus Mining In 2021
The cryptocurrency which first came out in 2009 had rewarded miners 50 bitcoins for each block that they mined. This was back when a user could mine bitcoin using an old laptop with a crappy graphics card. At this point, bitcoin was worth next to nothing. So a lot of miners either forgot their coins or sold them for very cheap. Bitcoin’s price evolution through this point is an interesting time.
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In 2021, three halving events since the launch of the digital currency has seen reward for block mined reduce drastically. The first halving occurred in 2012. At this point, the reward for a block was 25, reducing it by half. The next halving occurred in 2016, which reduced the reward to 12.5. The most recent halving happened in 2020, which reduced the number of bitcoins received per mined block to 6.25.
The reward will continue to halve every four years until all 21 million BTC are mined. Every halving will reduce the rewards for mined blocks by half every time. Making the rewards for mining blocks smaller, while simultaneously increasing the mining difficulty as miners clamor to get the rewards for mined blocks.
BTC Growth Over The Years
The pioneer cryptocurrency didn’t draw too much attention until the Silk Road bust happened. Before the Silk Road was launched, BTC was only used by people who were in it for the technology. The returns were not really significant at this point. These of BTC on Silk Road as a way to purchase literally anything, from drugs to weapons, is what really made law enforcement turn its focus on the coin.
BTC started to see significant growth in 2017 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
BTC’s price remained mostly flat around this period, despite its increased popularity, thanks to the Silk Road bust. The most notable bull run happened in 2017-2018. This was when a lot of investors had heard about bitcoin. The bull market brought BTC to the forefront as a strong asset to contend with.
Related Reading | Bitcoin At 0,000, Ethereum At ,000 Is Path Of Least Resistance, Says Bloomberg Crypto Analyst
In 2021, it is estimated that about 10% of the current world population are invested in either BTC or altcoins. Current numbers are put between an estimated 51 and 52.4 million crypto investors in the world. Compared to an estimated 2.9 to 5.8 million in 2017, this is tremendous growth.
Featured image from OptinMonster, chart from TradingView.com
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Research Shows Why Many Bitcoin Miners Intentionally Mined At a Loss in 2019
A new report from Binance Research shows that many bitcoin miners have been mining Bitcoin SV and BCH to some extent with significantly lower profitability. Other than political reasons, the firm said that non-economic factors contributed to it.
Had many miners that focused on BTC over Bitcoin SV and BCH in the same period, the research shows that they could have generated more profits.
![bitcoin mining](https://www.newsbtc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/chart1-860x276.png)
As the bitcoin mining difficulty increased and BTC price dropped, it has become more expensive to mine (Source: Binance Research, CoinMetrics)
So why did bitcoin miners mine at a loss purposefully?
According to Binance Research, the decision is seemingly not based on economic reasons. Rather, there exists a higher probability that miners have been mining BSV with a loss due to political beliefs during a tough market trend.
“However, none of these reasons have fully explained the persistence of Bitcoin SV’s sustained difficulty with its significantly lowest mining profitability in the first half of 2019. As a result, this finding posits whether mining activity might be irrational, possibly owing to political factors or other non-economically driven forces that are beyond the scope of this report,” the report read.
Specifically, following the hard fork of BSV on November 18, the conflict amongst the two major bitcoin hard forks (BSV and BCH) intensified.
It is likely that BSV supporters continued to mine the the cryptocurrency at a loss to support the network instead of BTC.
Binance Research noted that Bitcoin Cash miners were also mining BCH with a temporary opportunity cost in certain periods. That means, because all three networks use the same hashing function, miners intentionally dropped their profit margins to mine BSV and BCH over bitcoin.
“Empirical results, on the other hand, suggest that Bitcoin SV (BSV) was mined at a significant opportunity cost in the first half of 2019. While BTC’s and BCH’s respective reward-to-difficulty ratios were somehow more in line in 2019, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was also temporarly mined at an opportunity cost, yet, much less significant in comparison to its total mining revenue over the period,” the report showed.
How long can this continue?
During a BTC downtrend, alternative crptocurrencies or crypto assets with smaller market caps tend to be affected more than bitcoin.
As the prices of major cryptocurrencies fall, the opportunity cost of mining smaller cryptocurrenies than bitcoin will increase even further.
In the bear market, which the crypto market technically is in given that it is down 20 percent from its all-time high, it becomes more difficult for miners to sustain lower profit margins.
In the medium-term, declining prices could lead to the gap of hash rate between bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market expanding.
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