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On this episode of the Unhashed Podcast, we get into the game theory of paying ransoms, speculation on how to abuse UK’s legal system CSW-style, how S2F is totally undeniable and a perfectly predictive model, when NIMBYism with bitcoin mining, and the death of nuance with mining council press releases.
Another YUGE cyber ransomware attack surfaced over the weekend. Per the BBC, the gang behind the attack has demanded $70m paid in Bitcoin in return for a “universal decryptor” that it says will unlock the files of all victims. The REvil group claims its malware, which initially targeted US IT firm Kaseya, has hit one million “systems”. This number has not been verified and the exact total of victims is unknown. On Friday, cyber-security firm Huntress Labs estimated about 200 firms had been affected.The “supply chain” attack initially targeted Kaseya, before spreading through corporate networks that use its software. – https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57719820
Despite a UK court order to the contrary, Cobra is still hosting a copy of the whitepaper at Bitcoin.org – https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-paper. Cobra, the pseudonymous operator of the Bitcoin.org website, has been ordered by London’s High Court to discontinue hosting its copy of the Bitcoin white paper. Citing copyright infringement brought forward by nChain Chief Scientist Craig Wright, the judge had no option but to rule a default judgment because Cobra chose not to make an appearance, Wright’s representation, Ontier LLP, said via a statement on Monday. Judge David Hodge, QC issued an injunction prohibiting Cobra from infringing Wright’s copyright in the U.K., either through making the white paper accessible for download on the website or “in any other way.” An order requiring bitcoin.org to publish a copy of the court’s order was also issued while an inquiry will be established to determine the damages caused by Cobra against Wright, Ontier said. @Outputintern on Twitter said: “Default judgement awarded to Craig Wright. Cobra has to put a notice up on http://bitcoin.org for six months about the default judgement. Also has to pay Craig’s costs, £35,000 in interim payments ordered so far.”
One of the most widely used charts for predicting massive future bitcoin price gains is showing the largest divergence since January 2019. The bitcoin stock-to-flow model currently suggests the price of bitcoin should be around $77,900. But as of Monday, the cryptocurrency was trading at $33,668, well off the all-time high price of $64,829 reached in April. Crypto analyst “PlanB,” who has been documenting his stock-to-flow model since March 2019, tweeted that BTC/USD is now the furthest away from the estimated value in more than two years. He said the next six months will “make or break” the stock-to-flow model.
NIMBY strikes Bitcoin, as Fox Business reports, A gas-fired power plant being used to support a Bitcoin mining operation in upstate New York has divided local residents over the environmental toll of the energy-intensive process versus the economic benefits the business brings to town. Locals who have protested the operations of the plant, which is on the shores of Seneca Lake, have expressed concern that it’s polluting the air and heating the lake, the largest of the Finger Lakes. During the 12 months ending Feb. 28, 2021, the company said it mined 1,186 bitcoins at a cost of approximately $2,869 each. – https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/bitcoin-mining-operation-in-finger-lakes-sparks-local-concerns
Speaking of mining, the Bitcoin Mining Council presented their first report this week. The council is now composed of 23 members, with 14 new member mining companies in addition to 9 founding members the council now represents 32% of the mining industry. Bitcoin miners are rapidly becoming more energy efficient using an increasing percentage of sustainable sources (wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, nuclear) in their energy mix. Bitcoin is powered by a higher mix of sustainable energy (56%) than any other industry or major country. Also, from the report, “The Bitcoin network uses a negligible amount of the world’s energy — 189 terawatt hours as compared to 162,194 terawatt hours of total global energy use (0.02% of all energy consumed).” – https://bitcoinminingcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021.07.01-BMC-Q2-2021-Materials.pdf
It just became a whole lot easier and much more profitable to mine for bitcoin. The world has known for months that more than half the world’s bitcoin miners would be going dark as China cracked down on mining. Now that it’s happened, the bitcoin algorithm has adjusted accordingly to make sure miner productivity doesn’t continue to fall off a cliff. That adjustment – which took effect early Saturday morning – also means that way more cash is going to the bitcoin miners who remain online. “This will be a revenue party for miners,” said bitcoin mining engineer Brandon Arvanaghi. “They suddenly own a meaningfully larger piece of the pie, meaning they earn more bitcoin every day.” China had long been the epicenter of bitcoin miners, with past estimates indicating that 65% to 75% of the world’s bitcoin mining happened there, but a government-led crackdown has effectively banished the country’s crypto miners. ″For the first time in the bitcoin network’s history, we have a complete shutdown of mining in a targeted geographic region that affected more than 50% of the network,” said Darin Feinstein, founder of Blockcap and Core Scientific. Fewer people mining means that fewer blocks are solved each day. Typically, it takes about 10 minutes to complete a block, but Feinstein told CNBC the bitcoin network has slowed down to 14- to 19-minute block times. – https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/03/bitcoin-mining-difficulty-drops-after-hashrate-collapse-in-china-.html
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