Joseph Hall
Hopium is back on the menu for solo Bitcoin (BTC) miners. An approximately $240,000 reward, or 6.25 BTC, was generated by yet another solo miner on Tuesday morning.
This time, the odds were less than 20%, according to Con Kolivas, a Bitcoin software engineer and administrator for CKPool, whose name takes his initials. It’s the fourth “blockfind” for the CKPool since Jan. 11. Kolivas tweeted his congratulations to the miner who joins the ranks of the few and fortunate successful solo BTC miners.
The plucky miner belongs to the Solo CKPool, the service that offers anonymous solo Bitcoin mining with a fee. At 1.14 petahashes per second (PH/s), the miner is considered a “whale” miner, with a considerable hash rate for one single entity.
A new Bitcoin block is solved roughly every 10 minutes by miners competing against the entire Bitcoin network hash rate. By way of comparison, United States Bitcoin miners Foundry is currently the largest contributor to the network hash rate, with 33,803 PH/s.
One Twitter user estimated that while 1.14 PH/s is a lot, it is still less than a room full of S19s, the flagship mining product by Antminer.
Helen Partz
Merger and acquisition deals in the cryptocurrency industry, simply known as M&As, have massively increased in 2021, with associated value jumping nearly 5,000%, according to PwC, one the largest accounting firms in the United States.
The total volume of crypto mergers and acquisitions soared 4,846% last year, with the average deal size reaching about $180 million from $53 million in 2020, PwC said in a new study, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
PwC detailed that crypto fundraising deal volumes surged 645% in 2021, with top-five investors by deal count including blockchain investor AU21, Genesis Block Ventures, Genblock Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Moonwhale.
The massive surge in crypto M&A in 2021 was partly driven by special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deals, the study noted. PwC crypto leader Henri Arslanian said that there’s no sign of crypto fundraising slowing anytime soon.
The new report comes shortly after PwC released its new study on global M&A trends in technology, media and telecommunications on Jan. 24. According to the study, 2021 was a record year in terms of crypto M&A, posting 600 crypto deals in total, more than double that in 2020.
Related: Cathie Wood’s ARK ETF reportedly buys more than 69K shares of SPAC merging with Circle
PwC emphasized that in 2021 the digital asset industry was gaining “broader mainstream acceptance,” with traditional finance companies seeking to move into crypto as part of their core businesses through M&A. Companies across industries were also attempting to incorporate and monetize non-fungible tokens as a component of their core businesses, the firm noted.
“We expect a continued acceleration in crypto-related IPOs and acquisitions in 2022 across trading platforms, digital payment applications and related products,” PwC wrote.
Joseph Hall
Bitcoin (BTC) is a New York state of mind thing for Eric Adams, the crypto advocate serving as the 110th mayor of New York City. He received his first Bitcoin payout on Friday during some epic downward price action and was unflappable when asked about losses during an interview.
Bitcoin’s price has taken a nosedive from Friday highs of $41,000 to $35,000, meaning Adams has effectively taken a 15% haircut on his first wages.
In light of the plummeting price action, a CNN interviewer asked on Sunday, “How much money did you lose, and do you have any regrets?”
The recently instated mayor sidestepped the question, instead shining a spotlight on Bitcoin technology while making comparisons to investing in the S&P 500:
“It’s the same as when I invested in the stock market; we saw a drastic drop during 2018 and other times. The purpose of Bitcoin is to send a message that New York City is open to technology. We want to see a large amount of new technology in the city of New York and to encourage our young people to engage in these new emerging markets.”
He concluded that he is excited to bring young people into the space “who have historically been denied access to this new technology.”
Adams promised he would receive his first three paychecks in Bitcoin, or $97,000 annualized. In answer to the interviewer’s question, speculators can assume he lost roughly $5,000 in nominal dollar terms on Friday. That assumes he was paid roughly $32,333.
It’s important to note that due to United States Department Labor laws, the payment was first issued in fiat as U.S. dollars and then converted into digital currencies on crypto exchange Coinbase.
While the salary gesture is a promising sign for the Big Apple, New York’s crypto regulations are stringent for America’s standards. Crypto exchange Gemini said the financial center has “arguably the most comprehensive and granular crypto regulations in the nation.”
The orange-pilled mayor clearly has his work cut out. But it’s like the old saying goes, “if Bitcoin can make it here, Bitcoin can make it anywhere.”
A number of similar personalities have taken their paychecks in crypto over the last 12 months, with potentially detrimental consequences. Los Angeles Rams player Odell Beckham Jr announced in November that he would take his salary for the 2021 season in Bitcoin, worth an estimated $750,000 USD at time of payment. If he hasn't sold, those coins are currently worth around $400K, not factoring in his tax obligations.
This Daily Dose was brought to you by Cointelegraph.
