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Texas Miners Abandon Crypto for Next New Wave
Cattle graze at the Buffalo Gap Wind Power project in Taylor and Nolan counties, just south of Abilene, Texas.
Robert Daemmrich | Corbis | Getty Images
Lancium Chairman Ali Fenn told CNBC that at full capacity, this will be one of the largest AI data center campuses in the world, in the latest example of the race to fuel AI — and leave it Bitcoin Mining activity is lagging — it is accelerating.
“Data centers are rapidly evolving to support modern AI workloads, requiring new levels of high-density rack space, direct-on-chip liquid cooling, and unprecedented overall power demands,” said Chase Lochmiller, co-founder and CEO of Crusoe.
There are numerous synergies between the bitcoin mining industry and the AI infrastructure industry.
Mining companies have large data centers, with access to fiber optic lines and large amounts of power across the United States. These are exactly the kind of facilities needed for computationally intensive AI operations, which means their sites and technology are in high demand.
In the meantime, miners need to diversify. Following the bitcoin halving in April, an event that happens about once every four years, the business of generating new tokens became much less profitable. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase wrote in a June report that “some operators are feeling the financial squeeze from the recent block reward halving, which cut industry revenues in half, and are actively exploring exit strategies.”
With the burgeoning artificial intelligence sector in need of capacity and bitcoin miners looking for new ways to generate profits on their huge investments, mergers, funding and partnerships are rapidly taking shape.
Lancium and Crusoe join a long list of miners trying to trade bitcoin with artificial intelligence, and so far, the strategy seems to be working.
The combined market capitalization of the 14 largest U.S.-listed bitcoin miners tracked by JPMorgan hit an all-time high of $22.8 billion on June 15, adding $4.4 billion in just two weeks, according to a June 17 research note from the bank.
Bit Digital, a bitcoin miner that now derives about 27% of its revenue from artificial intelligence, She said in June that it had struck a deal with a customer to supply Nvidia GPUs for three years at a data center in Iceland, in a deal that is expected to generate $92 million in annual revenue. It is paying for the GPUs, in part, by liquidating some of its cryptocurrency holdings.
Hut 8based in Miami, said that raised $150 million in debt from private equity firm Coatue to help it develop its AI data center portfolio.
Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot recently He told CNBC that his company “has finalized commercial agreements for our new AI business under a GPU-as-a-service model, including a customer agreement that includes fixed infrastructure payments and revenue sharing.”
The shift to artificial intelligence has gone particularly well for Scientific corewhich emerged from bankruptcy in January.
On Tuesday, B. Riley raised its rating on the stock from neutral to buy and increased its price target on the stock from $0.50 to $13, citing the company’s recent series of deals with CoreWeave, A Nvidia-backed startup that is a major supplier of chipmaker technology for running artificial intelligence models.
Last month, CoreWeave offered to buy Core Scientific for $1.02 billion, not long after the pair announced an expansion of their existing partnership. Core Scientific rejected the offer. The company is currently valued at about $2 billion.
For years, Crusoe’s work has been virtually synonymous with the bitcoin mining industry.
Crusoe’s technology helps oil companies turn wasted energy, or flare gas, into a useful resource. Many bitcoin miners, with the help of Crusoe, have installed machines adjacent to these sites to capitalize on this cheaper energy source. Starting in 2021For example, ExxonMobil began working with Crusoe to mine bitcoin in North Dakota.
But Crusoe’s Lochmiller told CNBC that AI infrastructure has actually been part of the company’s vision since its founding six years ago.
“We are rethinking AI infrastructure from the ground up: from our energy solutions, to the design, engineering and construction of our purpose-built AI data centers, to our manufacturing capabilities with Crusoe Industries for leading electric data center infrastructure, and finally, to our purpose-built AI compute stack,” he said.
The Abilene plant, scheduled to begin operations in 2025, also plans to use primarily renewable energy sources.
“Our power orchestration technology is designed to ensure that large-scale AI data center campuses can be an asset to the network, not a liability,” Lancium’s Fenn told CNBC.
Lancium has patented a technology that allows it to transform energy buyers’ demand into a sort of dial that can be gradually raised or lowered in as little as five seconds. This helps balance a power grid that has inherently volatile energy sources like wind and solar.
“The original vision of Lancium “was to bring large-scale loads to places with the best and most abundant renewable energy to facilitate the energy transition,” Fenn said.
In 2018, Fenn says the only activity that was suitable for this purpose was bitcoin mining.
One of the most important features of Bitcoin is that it is completely location agnostic. Miners only need a power source and an internet connection, unlike other industries that need to be relatively close to their end users.
In some cases, the proceeds from cryptocurrency creation have provided enough financial incentive to justify building the infrastructure needed to harness previously untapped energy sources, especially in Texas, which is known as a Mecca for renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
Bitcoin miners are also flexible consumers of electricity: in essence, they function as buyers who are willing to accept all the energy they have available, at any time of day, and are equally willing to shut down at a mere few seconds’ notice.
But Lancium’s strategy has since shifted towards artificial intelligence.
“Traditional data centers were, and still are, primarily optimized for proximity to urban areas and users,” Fenn said. “That’s all changed now, with AI data centers optimized for large-scale energy availability, cost, and green. Our vision, campuses, and technology are perfectly positioned for this significantly larger and expanded opportunity.”
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Needham analysts estimate that large publicly traded bitcoin miners will more than double their power capacity over the next one to two years, including their plans to expand mining and HPC operations.
THE Estimates from the Electric Power Research Institute that data centers could absorb up to 9% of the country’s total electricity consumption by 2030, up from about 4% in 2023. Many see nuclear power as the answer to meeting that demand.
TeraWulf powers its mining operations with nuclear energy and is looking to get into machine learning. So far, the company has two megawatts dedicated to HPC capacity, though it plans to transition its energy infrastructure toward AI and HPC.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC last year who is a big proponent of going nuclear when it comes to meeting the demands of AI workloads.
“I don’t see a way to get there without nuclear,” Altman said. “I mean, maybe we could get there with just solar and storage. But from my perspective, I think this is the most likely and best way to get there.”
News
Cryptocurrency Price August 1: Bitcoin Dips Below $65K; Solana, XRP Down Up To 8%
Major cryptocurrencies fell in Thursday trading following the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep its key interest rate unchanged. Overnight, the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate at 5.25-5.5% for the eighth consecutive time, as expected, while also signaling the possibility of a rate cut at its next meeting in September. The unanimous decision by the Federal Open Market Committee reflects a continued wait-and-see approach as it monitors inflation trends.
CoinSwitch Markets Desk said: “Bitcoin has fallen below $65,000 after the US Federal Reserve announced it would keep interest rates unchanged. However, with markets now anticipating rate cuts at the next Federal Reserve meeting in September, the outlook for a Bitcoin rally by the end of the year has strengthened.”
Meanwhile, CoinDCX research team said: “The crypto market has plunged after the Fed decision. Tomorrow’s US unemployment rate announcement is expected to induce more volatility, with the ‘actual’ figure coming in higher than the ‘expected’ one, which is positive for cryptocurrencies.”
At 12:21 pm IST, Bitcoin (BTC) was down 3.2% at $64,285, while Ethereum was down nearly 4.5% at $3,313. Meanwhile, the global market cryptocurrency The market capitalization fell 3.6% to around $2.3 trillion in the last 24 hours.
“Bitcoin needs to clear its 200-day EMA at $64,510 to consolidate further. Otherwise, a retest of $62,000 could be in the cards,” said Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus.
Altcoins and meme coins, such as BNB (3%), Solana (8%), XRP (5.7%), Dogecoin (5%), Cardano (4.6%), Avalanche (4.3%), Shiba Inu (3.8%), Polkadot (3.4%), and Chainlink (4%) also saw declines.
The volume of all stablecoins is now $71.64 billion, which is 92.19% of the total cryptocurrency market volume in 24 hours, according to data available on CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 54.99%. BTC volume in the last 24 hours increased by 23.3% to $35.7 billion.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, opinions and views provided by experts are personal. They do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
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Altcoins WIF, BONK, RUNE, JUP Down 10% While Bitcoin Drops 4%
Altcoins dogwifhat, Bonk, THORChain, and Jupiter have suffered losses of more than 10%, while Bitcoin is down 4% in the last 24 hours.
After a period of relative calm yesterday, July 31, Bitcoin (BTC) price action has seen a drastic change as the cryptocurrency dropped by more than $3,500, bringing its value to $63,300. At the same time, altcoins mirrored this trend, with the total value of liquidated positions rising to nearly $225 million over the course of the day.
Initially, the week started on a positive note for Bitcoin, which reached its highest point since early June, hitting $70,000. However, this peak was short-lived, as it was quickly rejected, leading to a substantial decline, with Bitcoin falling below $65,500.
The cryptocurrency managed to regain some stability, trading comfortably at around $66,800. However, following a Press conference According to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the value of Bitcoin has fallen again to $64,300, down more than 3% in 24 hours.
BTC Price Chart 24 Hours | Source: crypto.news
The recession coincided with a relationship from the New York Times stating that Iran had called for retaliatory measures against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, increasing the risk of further conflict in the region.
Meanwhile, on the economic front, the Federal Reserve decided to keep its benchmark interest rates in place, offering little information on a planned September rate cut. Powell also hinted that while no concrete decisions have been made on the September adjustment, there is growing consensus that a rate cut is likely.
Amid Bitcoin’s decline, altcoins have suffered even more significant losses. For example, dogwifhat (Wife) saw a 12.4% drop and (DISGUST) has suffered a 10% drop. Other altcoins such as THORChain (RUNE) also fell by 10%, while Jupiter (JUPITER) and the Ethereum naming service (ENS) decreased by 8% and 9% respectively.
Among the largest-cap cryptocurrencies, the biggest losers are Solana (SOL) with a decrease of 8%, (Exchange rate risk) down 6%, Cardano (ADA) down 4%, and both Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE) recording a decrease of 4.4%.
Data from CoinGlass indicates that approximately 67,000 traders have been negatively impacted by this increased volatility. BTC positions have seen $61.85 million in liquidations, while ETH positions have faced $61 million. In total, the value of liquidated positions stands at $225.4 million at the time of writing.
News
Riot Platforms Sees 52% Drop in Bitcoin Production in Q2
Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms has released its second-quarter financial results, highlighting a decline in cryptocurrency mined due to the recent halving.
Colorado-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Riot platforms revealed its second quarter financial results, highlighting a significant reduction in mined cryptocurrencies attributed to the recent halving event that took place in early April.
The company reported total revenue of $70 million for the quarter ended July 31, a decline of 8.7% compared to the same period in 2023. Riot Platforms attributed the revenue decline primarily to a $9.7 million decrease in engineering revenue, which was partially mitigated by a $6 million increase in Bitcoin extraction income.
During the quarter, the company mined 844 BTC, representing a decline of over 50% from Q2 2023, citing the halving event and increasing network difficulty as major factors behind the decline. Riot Platforms reported a net loss of $84.4 million, or $0.32 per share, missing Zacks Research forecast a loss of $0.16 per share.
Halving increases competitive pressure
The Colorado-based firm said the average cost of mining one BTC in the second quarter, including energy credits, rose to $25,327, a remarkable 341% increase from $5,734 per BTC in the same quarter of 2023. Despite this significant increase in production costs, the firm remains optimistic about maintaining competitiveness through recent deals.
For example, following the Recent acquisition Cryptocurrency firm Block Mining, Riot has increased its distributed hash rate forecast from 31 EH/s to 36 EH/s by the end of 2024, while also increasing its 2025 forecast from 40 EH/s to 56 EH/s.
Riot Platforms Hashrate Growth Projections by 2027 | Source: Riot Platforms
Commenting on the company’s financials, Riot CEO Jason Les said that despite the halving, the mining company still managed to achieve “significant operational growth and execution of our long-term strategy.”
“Despite this reduction in production available to all Bitcoin miners, Riot reported $70 million in revenue for the quarter and maintained strong gross margins in our core Bitcoin mining business.”
Jason Les
Following its Q2 financial report, Riot Platforms shares fell 1.74% to $10.19, according to Google Finance data. Meanwhile, the American miner continues to chase Canadian rival Bitfarms, recently acquiring an additional 10.2 million BITF shares, increasing its stake in Bitfarms to 15.9%.
As previously reported by crypto.news, Riot was the first announced a $950 million takeover bid for Bitfarms in late May, arguing that Bitfarms’ founders were not acting in the best interests of all shareholders. They said their proposal was rejected by Bitfarms’ board without substantive engagement.
In response, Bitfarms She said that Riot’s offer “significantly understates” its growth prospects. Bitfarms subsequently implemented a shareholder rights plan, also known as a “poison pill,” to protect its strategic review process from hostile takeover attempts.
News
Aave Price Increases Following Whales Accumulation and V3.1 Launch
Decentralized finance protocol Aave is seeing a significant spike in whale activity as the market looks to recover from the recent crash that pushed most altcoins into key support areas earlier this week.
July 31, Lookonchain shared details indicating that the whales had aggressively accumulated Aave (AAVE) over the past two days. According to the data, whales have withdrawn over 58,848 AAVE worth $6.47 million from exchanges during this period.
In one instance, whale address 0x9af4 withdrew 11,185 AAVE worth $1.23 million from Binance. Meanwhile, another address moved 21,619 AAVE worth over $2.38 million from the exchange and deposited the tokens into Aave.
These withdrawals follow a previous transfer of 26,044 AAVE from whale address 0xd7c5, amounting to over $2.83 million withdrawn from Binance.
AAVE price has surged over 7% in the past 24 hours amid buy-side pressure from these whales. The DeFi token is currently trading around $111 after jumping over 18% in the past week.
Recently, the price of AAVE increased by over 8% after Aave founder Marc Zeller announced a proposed fee change aimed at adopting a buyback program for AAVE tokens.
Aave v3.1 is available
The total value locked in the Aave protocol currently stands at around $22 billion. According to DeFiLlamaApproximately $19.9 billion is on Aave V3, while the V2 chain still holds approximately $1.9 billion in TVL and V1 approximately $14.6 million.
Aave Labs announced Previously, Aave V3.1 was made available on all networks with active Aave V3 instances.
V3.1 features improvements that are intended to improve the overall security of the DeFi protocol. The Aave DAO governance has approved the v3.1 improvements, which also include operational efficiency and usability for the network.
Meanwhile, Aave Labs recently outlined a ambitious roadmap for the projectwith a 2030 vision for Aave V4, among other developments.
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