⛏️ers To Report ⚡️ Use To 🤠ERCOT + Bitmain ASICs Stuck at 🇺🇸 Ports 😬
W48 '24 | 11.25-12.1.24 | Issue CVIII | Block Height 872818
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W48 ‘24 Vibe Check
The Overview Vibe
Weekly Industry Metrics
Headlines & News
The Media Vibe
Energy Corner
The Meme Vibe
The Overview Vibe
Bitcoin dove to $90K (LOL) before u-turning to $97K as the fight for $100K continues. During this inter-epoch difficulty week, hashprice tracked BTC price back up to $60/PH/Day, while hashrate slowly dipped to ~720 EH/s before bouncing back late in the week. Miners can expect difficulty to adjust upward ~2%. The incoming winter storm in the Midwest of the United States will most likely result in reactive curtailment by MISO and SPP miners, potentially impacting the next difficulty adjustment in mid-December.
During a short week before the gobble-gobble holiday weekend the biggest update this week was the public confirmation of German compute conglomerate Northern Data Group (NDG) marketing their Bitcoin mining business “Peak Mining” for sale. NDG invites bidders to submit proposals for their ~8 EH/s operational footprint, with proceeds to be invested into their high-growth HPC and cloud businesses. Though no asking price has been reportedly disclosed, it is thought to be worth $300-500M. Tether, NDG’s biggest investor, should be looking pretty after investing in the bear and looking to cash out on this market upswing.
In the great Republic of Texas, Bitcoin miners operating a total 75 + MW load and an interruptible load of at least 10% will be required to register with grid operator ERCOT by February 1st, 2025. Operators will have to submit facility locations, owners, business structure, transmission and delivery providers, load demand profiles (anticipated peak and interruptible load), and other site-specific details. Ironically, in this pro-Bitcoin, pro-business, and pro-freedom friendly state, BTC miners will have to register more detail than any other large load business in the state. It is thought that with this data, ERCOT will be better able to plan grid management and planning efforts going into the future.
At the federal level, the Customs and Border Protection Agency continues to make Bitcoin miners’ lives hard, with the halting of thousands Bitmain ASICs at ports. Being the only ASIC OEM held up in customs speculates that it may be related to the relationship Bitmain has with Sophgo, who provides the chip in Antminer control boards. Sophgo is under investigation for providing chips to sanctioned Chinese tech giant Huawei and is also run by the CEO of Bitmain Micree Zhan. That specific chip is found in the Antminer T21, S21, and some S19 generation machines.
While some industry peers signal to this as an opportunity for non-Chinese ASIC OEMs to gain market share in the future, there is no doubt this problem will impact the short/medium-term financial outlook of miners across the states. Not only is loss of income painful, but the CDP is charging a $200K daily holding fee to owners of the ASICs. If this doesn’t problem doesn’t clear up in the short term, might we see a localized price crunch for ASICs already in the country? Could S19s in GA or TX see a short-term prize pump as international wholesalers struggle to meet domestic demand?
As we enter Mariah Carey is relevant season, I hope all y’all had a great Thanksgiving holiday with your families, stayed hydrated after all the turkey, and oranging pilling your nocoiner friends/family. I am truly thankful for your audience and support week in and week out! While my Buckeyes came up short this weekend, GOT TO LOVE TO SEE THE LONGHORNS SPANK THE AGGIES lol!
Bitcoin/Mining Metrics
BTC price2: ~$97,413.94 @ EOW. +1.34% WOW.
Hash price1: $61.04 PH/Day @ EOW. +0.61% WOW.
Network Hashrate (SMA 7 Day)1: ~747 EH/s @ EOW. -1.58% WOW.
Difficulty1: 102.29 T @ EOW. 0.00% WOW.
ASIC Retail Price (s19/m30 family)1: $2.48/TH/s @ EOW. 0.00% WOW.
Sources: Hashrate Index1, Bitbo2
Headlines & News
Featured
ERCOT Bitcoin Mines Required to Report Power Demand to Texas State - TheMinerMag.
MicroStrategy Acquires 55,500 BTC and achieves BTC Yield of 35.2% QTD and 59.3% YTD; Now Holds 386,700 BTC - Press Release.
Officials are halting Bitmain units at U.S. ports, industry firms report - BlockSpace Media.
Tether-Backed Northern Data Gets Offers for Crypto Mining Arm - Bloomberg.
General PubCo Updates
Q3 Results
IREN - Press Release, Presentation
IREN Sold 4.1 EH/s S19j Pro Bitcoin Hashrate for $2/TH/s - TheMinerMag.
Cipher Mining Announces Acquisition of New Site in West Texas, Adding 100 MW of Capacity to its Growing Portfolio of Power and Data Center Development Opportunities - Press Release.
Regulatory/Legal Updates
Judge blocks state from enforcing foreign ownership law against crypto mine - Arkansas Times.
Bit Brother Crypto Mining Project in Clyde Catches Fire - KTXS12.
Research/Reports/Newsletters
The Miner Weekly - Bitcoin Miners Spend $3.6B on Machines and Infrastructure
Hashrate Index - Mine More, Earn Faster: Bull Market Growth Hacks
The Media Vibe
Energy Corner
The Meme Vibe
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