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Bitcoin Mining Becomes More Competitive as Hashrate Reaches New ATH: CryptoQuant

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With BTC’s value nearing its all-time high of $73,700 a few days ago, Bitcoiners seemed poised to see a new price high for their favorite crypto asset.

Even Bitcoin miners are not left out in the anticipation. A CryptoQuant report confirms that the network’s mining difficulty and hash rate have unlocked new heights. This record shows that more mining machines have joined the bandwagon, sparking competition in the ecosystem.

Bitcoin Mining Competition on the Rise

Bitcoin adopts a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism tied to mining activities to add transactions to the blockchain. The mining difficulty and hash rate are vital in ensuring the network’s stability while new BTC is produced.

When more miners commence Bitcoin mining operations or existing facilities boost their mining capacity, the network’s mining difficulty and hash rate increase. Conversely, a reduction in mining machines brings a decrease in mining difficulty and hash rate.

Highlighting how the latest surge in the two metrics will impact mining operations, the CryptoQuant report stated:

As the difficulty increases, greater computational power is required to process transactions, driving up mining costs. With Bitcoin’s value on the rise, mining competition has intensified, posing challenges for the industry.

This shows that Bitcoin miners will struggle to contend with bigger market players unless they raise cash to boost their mining capacity. The ongoing competition within the mining ecosystem may partly explain miners’ BTC accumulation and holding policy, a practice some believe will drive the asset’s price to higher heights.

How Bitcoin Miners Are Fairing

With the latest surge in competition in the Bitcoin mining business, several miners have explored acquisitions and several strategies to stay afloat.

Last month, Bitcoin miner TeraWulf sold a 25% stake in a joint venture, raising $92 million to boost its mining operations. In other news, Bitcoin miner BitFuFu acquired a rival mining facility based in Ethiopia, helping to boost the firm’s mining capacity by 80 MW.

Another Bitcoin mining firm, Northern Data, disclosed its plan to shut down its mining business to focus on artificial intelligence (AI).

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Ike Goes Live on Mainnet: Unlocking Liquid Staking on Aleph Zero

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[PRESS RELEASE – London, United Kingdom, November 21st, 2024]

Ike is proud to announce the official launch of its Liquid Staking Token (LST), sA0, on Aleph Zero. This milestone provides the Aleph Zero community with a new way to engage with the network by offering staking flexibility without compromising on rewards.

What Is sA0?

sA0 is Ike’s native Liquid Staking Token, designed to enhance the staking experience on Aleph Zero. With sA0, users can stake their AZERO tokens to support network security and earn rewards, all while keeping their assets liquid. This means they can use sA0 tokens across Aleph Zero’s ecosystem, unlocking new opportunities for participation and growth. Meaning, sA0 empowers users to “stake and use” at the same time.

sA0 Benefits

  • Liquidity Meets Rewards: Users receive sA0 tokens in exchange for their staked AZERO, enabling them to stay liquid while continuing to earn rewards.
  • Smooth Integration: sA0 seamlessly integrates with Aleph Zero’s growing DeFi ecosystem, creating more utility and value for stakers.
  • Stronger Network Security: By encouraging greater participation in staking, sA0 supports the overall security and resilience of the Aleph Zero network.

Building Toward Progressive Decentralization

The launch of sA0 is a significant step in Ike’s roadmap toward progressive decentralization. Ensuring most of the slots are open for permissionless entry when governance live, Ike launched with 7 initial validators including Deutsche Telekom & STC Bahrain. As part of this journey, Ike will soon introduce community-driven governance features, including permissionless validator registration, initially scaling to have 30 slots with a fully transparent on-chain bonding process. This will enable a dynamic and competitive validator ecosystem, with the community playing a central role in decision-making.

Stephen Novenstern, Founder at Ike, commented:

“The mainnet launch of sA0 marks an exciting moment for both Ike and the Aleph Zero community. sA0 offers a powerful tool for staking while maintaining liquidity, and it’s just the beginning of our commitment to building a decentralized, community-driven ecosystem.

From the inception of the Ike Project, we wanted to build a Liquid Staking Protocol that wouldn’t just unlock staked liquidity; we wanted to put the Ike DAO in control of what percentage each Validator gets, and for it to be permissionless to get on the [Validator Registry] list.”

What’s Next?

With sA0 now live, Ike invites the Aleph Zero community to explore the benefits of liquid staking. In the coming months, Ike will focus on expanding the utility of sA0 within the ecosystem and rolling out governance features that further empower the community to shape its future. Users can see more in the Ike Docs here.

About Ike

Ike is the home of the sA0 Liquid Staking Protocol smart contracts live on Aleph Zero WASM. Together with the community, validators, and other builders in the ecosystem, they are fundamentally reshaping the network, delivering liquidity at the base layer, composable rewards, increasing participation and ultimately enhancing network security.

Drawing inspiration from the Japanese art of Ikebana, Ike is committed to fostering a harmonious and resilient ecosystem. By providing users with flexibility and liquidity in their staking journey, Ike empowers the Aleph Zero community to unlock the full potential of their assets while contributing to the network’s growth and stability.

Users can stay updated on the latest developments and engage with other like-minded individuals by joining the Ike Discord community and following on Twitter.

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USDC and CCTP to launch on Aptos, with Stripe adding Aptos support in crypto products

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[PRESS RELEASE – Palo Alto, California, November 21st, 2024]

Integration to enhance DeFi use cases on Aptos, expand interoperability, and streamline global payment solutions for merchants.

Aptos Foundation today announced the upcoming integration of Circle’s native USDC and Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) on the Aptos Network, as well as Stripe adding support for Aptos in its crypto products. These integrations make Aptos the home for interoperable DeFi and the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable enterprise-grade blockchain, further expanding its global financial ecosystem.

The integration of Aptos into Stripe’s crypto onramp and payouts products, paired with native USDC, will provide reliable fiat on and off-ramps for the Aptos network, streamline merchant pay-ins and payouts, and offer a seamless connection between traditional finance and blockchain technology.

Today, USDC is the largest regulated dollar-backed stablecoin with over $37B in circulation. With more than $160M in circulation on Aptos, bridged USDC is the most prevalent stablecoin available on the network. With this integration, native USDC will be issued through the regulated entities of Circle directly on the Aptos network and CCTP will enable developers to design cross-chain experiences by connecting their Aptos apps to the network of supported blockchains.

Bridge providers such as Stargate, built on LayerZero, will provide a smooth transition from the existing bridged USDC on Aptos to native USDC over time. There are no immediate changes to the AptosBridge built on LayerZero, and it will continue to operate as normal.

Additionally, ahead of the native launch of USDC, bridged USDC from the AptosBridge will be renamed to “lzUSDC” on block explorers. There will be outreach to ecosystem apps to encourage them to make the same change in their app UI and documentation.

The launch of CCTP will bring new levels of interoperability to DeFi on Aptos, enabling secure and efficient native USDC transfers. With the addition of Aptos, CCTP will support nine blockchains – including Arbitrum, Base, Ethereum, and Solana —and 72 routes with 1:1 capital efficiency. This move will allow for seamless cross-chain onboarding, swaps, purchases, treasury rebalancing, and more – all while maintaining an accessible and intuitive user experience.

With the addition of Aptos to Stripe’s crypto products, users will be able to seamlessly convert fiat currencies into USDC, directly through Aptos-enabled wallets. This integration will enable the use of USDC for Stripe’s global network of businesses. The combination of Stripe’s payment tools and Aptos’ scalable network unlocks new opportunities for global merchants and payment providers to process transactions faster, more securely, and at lower costs.

“Adding support for the Aptos blockchain inside our crypto products broadens consumer and merchant access to more efficient global fund flows with stablecoins; whether it be a retailer accepting payments from around the world, or a platform paying creators no matter where they are,” said John Egan, Head of Crypto at Stripe. “This collaboration brings Stripe’s global network together with the power of the Aptos blockchain, opening new avenues for both merchants and consumers to access efficient, stablecoin-based payments.”

“The DeFi ecosystem on Aptos has grown to five times its original size in the past year alone, and it’s clear why,” said Nikhil Chandhok, Chief Product Officer at Circle. “Aptos has emerged as a highly efficient way to move money across the globe. The arrival of native USDC and CCTP will only enhance this, and further the vision we share with the Aptos Foundation team of a future where secure digital dollars create a more accessible economy for everyone.”

“USDC and CCTP are the gold standards in DeFi, and Stripe is among the most trusted names in financial infrastructure,” said Bashar Lazaar, Head of Grants and Ecosystem at Aptos Foundation. “Circle and Stripe’s integration of Aptos moves the needle in creating a more accessible, secure, and decentralized future of finance. We’re all looking forward to this integration, and are eager to see what the incredible builders in the Aptos ecosystem make possible with this powerful new technology in their toolkit.”

“Aptos makes the globally connected economy accessible to everyone by simplifying the movement of economic value,” said Mo Shaikh, CEO of Aptos Labs, which provided technical expertise for the integrations. “I’m looking forward to seeing Aptos becoming a unifying force in the global economy, providing infrastructure that enhances payment efficiency while bringing the peer-to-peer money movement to life for its ecosystem and builders.”

For more information about Aptos Foundation and DeFi on Aptos, visit: https://aptosfoundation.org/ecosystem/projects/defi.

About Aptos Foundation

Aptos Foundation is dedicated to supporting the development of the Aptos protocol, decentralized network and ecosystem and driving engagement with the Aptos ecosystem. By unlocking a blockchain with seamless usability, Aptos Foundation aims to bring the benefits of decentralization to the masses.

About Aptos Network

Aptos is a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain. Aptos’ breakthrough technology and programming language, Move, are designed to evolve, improve performance and strengthen user safeguards. Please visit https://www.aptosfoundation.org for more information on the Aptos blockchain.

About Circle

Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Through its regulated entities, Circle is the issuer of USDC and EURC – highly liquid, interoperable, and trusted money protocols on the internet. Circle’s open and programmable platform and APIs make it easy for organizations to run their internet-scale business, whether it is making international payments, building globally-accessible Web3 apps or managing their internal treasury. Users can learn more at https://circle.com.

About Stripe

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies—from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups—use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Headquartered in San Francisco and Dublin, the company aims to increase the GDP of the internet.

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SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Confirms He Will Step Down In January

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Gary Gensler, the current chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), confirmed on Thursday that he will be stepping down from his role starting in January. 

  • Gensler confirmed the news in an announcement on Twitter and a post to the SEC’s website, saying it had been an “honor of a lifetime” to “ensure that our capital markets remain the best in the world.”
  • “I thank President Biden for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility,” Gensler added. “The SEC has met our mission and enforced the law without fear or favor.” 
  • Gensler was highly unpopular among the crypto community for his long list of enforcement actions against the industry’s leaders, and unwillingness to encourage more accommodating rules for the new asset class. 
  • Donald Trump promised to fire Gensler in July, and has since been elected the 47th U.S. President. 
  • Bitcoin rose to $98,200 following Gensler’s announcement. 
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