Bitcoin Mining Revenues Are on the Rise – Crypto Weekly Update

This week, the total market capitalization exceeded €1.09 trillion. The decrease at the 7-day interval is 3.11%. Bitcoin decreased by 3.36% during the week to a current value of over €23,000. Bitcoin dominance is 40.0%.

Bitcoin Mining Revenues Are on the Rise

The mining crypto industry has faced tremendous financial stress over the past few months, primarily caused by the prolonged bear market. Bitcoin miners’ revenues have been declining for several months in a row, reaching this year’s lowest mining revenue day on June 13.

Data from Blockchain.com shows that over the past month the tables have turned. Miners’ revenues have increased by nearly 69% in one month – from $13.928 million on July 13 to $23.488 million on Aug. 12. The increase in miners’ revenues demonstrates that mining is still a viable and profitable business despite high operational costs.

Partly contributing to the positive increase in revenues was the falling price of mining equipment, which allowed several major players in the mining industry to expand their operations further and thus reduce the average cost required to mine one bitcoin.

The growth in mining revenues has not only contributed to improved sentiment and the entry of new investors into the mining sector but has also contributed to the rise in the value of shares of major mining companies. For example, shares of mining giant Marathon Digital Holdings have risen by a staggering 203% since July 1. Source

Ethereum Has Revealed the Date of Transition to PoS

The broader crypto community, led by supporters of the Ethereum ecosystem, is eagerly awaiting the transition of the Ethereum network to a new consensus model called Proof-of-Stake, which will reduce network energy consumption by 99.9%.

On a conference call titled”Consensus Layer Call,” Ethereum network developers revealed the expected date of the network’s transition to Proof-of-Stake, which is scheduled to launch on September 15-16, 2022. One of the lead developers, Tim Beiko, posted a status on Twitter after the conference call containing the number “58750000000000000000000”.

The number posted in Beiko’s tweet refers to the targeted Total Terminal Difficulty required to mine the last Ethereum block on the Proof-of-Work consensus model. Once it is reached, the network will turn off Proof-of-Work and move to Proof-of-Stake.

In response to the network’s transition to PoS, Ethereum has been attracting the attention of many investors all around the world. In the last seven days alone, the price of Ethereum has risen by 10%, with a 49% increase in the 30 days. Source

Survey: Up to 75% of Financial Institutions Plan to Use Cryptocurrencies

The latest survey from Ripple has shown very interesting results, especially regarding the global adoption and real-world use of cryptocurrencies.

According to the survey, up to 76% of financial institutions plan to use cryptocurrencies in their operations in the next 36 months. The majority of those entities said they would delve into the industry, assuming an appropriate regulatory framework was applied to it.

The study also revealed that 20% of consumers participating in the survey would only buy “sustainable cryptocurrencies”. However, the company pointed out that many people are unaware which digital assets use the Proof-of-Work (POW) consensus mechanism and which are less energy intensive.

Another factor that could encourage the global adoption of cryptocurrencies is banks and their attitude towards cryptocurrencies. Up to 65% of respondents admitted that they would invest in bitcoin or some altcoins if their local financial institution provided services related to investing in crypto assets.

Ripple’s survey further states that interest in digital collectibles has increased significantly over the past few months. However, according to the survey, the NFT sector is still in its “very early days”, and most consumers either do not understand or are sceptical about it. The survey also showed that people are most interested in NFTs related to the music, gaming and sports industries. Source

Cryptocurrency-Based Crime Is Decreasing

Crypto crime is on the decline. An analytical report published by Chainalysis showed that the volume of transactions related to illegal activity has dropped by up to 15% this year.

According to Chainalysis, total scam revenue for 2022 is 65% lower than it was at the end of July 2021, and is currently estimated to be approximately $1.6 billion. The decline in crypto scam revenue is primarily attributed to negative sentiment in the cryptocurrency market and declining prices of individual crypto assets.

“Since January 2022, scam revenue has fallen more or less in line with Bitcoin pricing. The cumulative number of individual transfers to scams so far in 2022 is the lowest it’s been in the past four years,” the firm says.

The decline in fraudulent transaction volumes indicates that fewer people are falling for cryptocurrency-related scams. This decline is mainly related to the growing financial literacy of crypto users.

Though the number of scams may be down, Chainalysis reports that as of July 2022, $1.9 billion in crypto was still stolen in hacks. These include the $190 million hack of the Nomad Token Bridge or the $5 million stolen from Solana wallets earlier this month, compared to just under $1.2 billion during the same period last year. Source

Google Has Invested in Blockchain Companies

According to the latest blog post, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has poured the most amount of capital into the blockchain industry over the past year compared to any other public company.

The company invested a total of $1.5 billion in the blockchain sector between September 2021 and June 2022, with the investment capital distributed among four different blockchain companies. Funds from Alphabet flowed into digital asset management platform Fireblocks, gaming Web3 company Dapper Labs, blockchain infrastructure solution tool Voltage, as well as a venture capital firm Digital Currency Group.

Another large corporate investor in the blockchain industry is asset management company BlackRock, which has invested a total of $1.17 billion in Circle, FTX and Anchorage Digital. Investment bank Morgan Stanley has also made a significant investment in the sector, investing a total of $1.1 billion in Figment and NYDIG. Source

Interesting Fact: The Whale of the Ethereum ICO Days Has Come to Life

The wallet of an unknown Ethereum whale that participated in an early Ethereum Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2014, during which it raised approximately 150,000 ETH, was reactivated on August 14 after three years of dormancy.

The whale moved 145,000 ETH into multiple wallets just as the price of Ether jumped to a new three-month high of $2,000. The transfers were made in multiple small transactions of 5,000 ETH, including several transfers of 15,000 and 20,000 ETH. The total value of Ether transferred is more than $280 million.

Last weekend’s transfer of 145,000 ETH was only the second transfer from this address since 2014. The first time this whale made a transfer was in July 2019, when it sent 5,000 ETH to the Bitfinex exchange. At that time, one ether traded for about $219, and the value of the entire transaction was more than one million dollars. Source

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