1.
On February 7, the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) that offers exposure to the stocks of bitcoin miners, received approval from Nasdaq for listing on the exchange under the ticker “WGMI.” The fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in companies that derive a minimum of 50% of their profit from bitcoin mining. In addition to the large number of mining, miner, and miner companies listed on the U.S. stock market, it will likely include chip companies such as TSMC. This is the crypto asset manager's third bitcoin-focused ETF.
2.
Kazakhstan has held discussions on the draft law "Digital Assets of the Republic of Kazakhstan", which affects all aspects of mining activity, Kazinform reports. The First Deputy Minister of Finance said that the current tax rate is 1 tenge per kilowatt, and it is proposed to raise it to 5 tenge per kilowatt. In addition, it is proposed that even if it is not running, as long as the mining equipment is installed, it will be taxed like a casino (casinos pay for every card table in this form, regardless of the presence of activity). In addition, the equipment is now imported without paying VAT, and we propose to exclude mining equipment from the list of (VAT exempt).
The head of state elaborated that the socio-economic effect of the mining business is minimal, noting that the sector does not create many jobs or products but consumes a lot of energy, Bitcoincom reports. In some cases, miners use subsidized electricity and do not pay duties on imported equipment while cashing out their profits in other jurisdictions. Those who want to work in this field must have the proper permits, receive electricity at the right price, declare their income and pay taxes, and start green energy projects. He ordered the government to develop comprehensive regulations for the industry by April 1 to ensure that miners meet their obligations.
3.
On February 11 Intel revealed, Argo Blockchain, BLOCK (formerly known as Square) and GRIID Infrastructure are among their first customers for this upcoming product. The blockchain accelerator will ship later this year that has over 1000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs for SHA-256 based mining. The contrast with GPUs seems a bit odd, industry sources say, because almost no one uses GPUs for bitcoin mining.
4.
Ebang International Holdings Inc. , a global blockchain technology company, announced that the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary Ebonex Australia Pty Ltd has received registration approval from Australian Transaction Reports.
5.
György Matolcsy, governor of the National Bank of Hungary, wrote in a statement supporting the view of the EU's senior financial regulator that the EU should ban cryptocurrency activities. This comes after Swedish officials have repeatedly suggested that the EU ban POW mining.（CoinDesk）
6.
Bitcoin mining infrastructure firm Compute North raises $385 million in equity and debt funding.The equity part of the funding, worth $85 million, was co-led by Mercuria and Generate Capital. Other investors, including National Grid Partners, the venture arm of National Grid also joined the equity funding.
The debt portion of the funding, some $300 million, was also provided by Generate Capital. Compute North calls the equity part of the funding its Series C round and the overall funding as a growth capital round.
Minnesota-based Compute North plans to open new hosting facilities in the US, including in Nebraska, North Carolina, and Texas. Dave Perrill, founder and CEO of Compute North, declined to share how many new facilities the firm plans to open and what would be their total capacity but said there are several facilities at various stages of development.
7.
Shares of bitcoin miner CleanSpark jumped on plans to sell its traditional energy business.
BTIG analyst Gregory Lewis says the plan has the “potential to flip the script and drive incremental growth.”
CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford announced the company's new strategy along with the release of its fiscal first-quarter earnings report late Wednesday. The stock was recently up nearly 15%, far outpacing today’s gains for the rest of the crypto mining industry.（CoinDesk）
8.
According to CNBC, Brent Whitehead and Matt Lohstroh are mining bitcoin off flare gas from oil drilling.Their company, Giga, places a shipping container full of thousands of bitcoin miners on an oil well, diverts the natural gas into generators, which convert the gas into electricity that is then used to power the miners.
The process reduces CO2-equivalent emissions by about 63% compared to continued flaring, according to research from Denver-based Crusoe Energy Systems. Whitehead tells CNBC they have signed deals with more than 20 oil and gas companies, four of which are publicly traded. Giga also says they’re also in talks with sovereign wealth funds, and they are expanding, fast. Giga’s 11-person team is adding another six employees this monthGiga tells CNBC that its revenue was more than $4 million in 2021, and it’s on track to earn more than $20 million by the end of 2022.
9.
BIOSTAR has announced the launch of a brand new TZ590-BTC motherboard and the TZ590-BTC also specializes in crypto mining with native inbuilt functionality to support this claim.
10.
Tether and Bitfinex have recently been investing in bitcoin mining, According to Paolo Ardoino. Our strategy is to ensure adequate geographical and political diversity as a priority. Cheap power creates concentration, which is good for the company, but not necessarily best for BTC. We work with local entities to focus on sustainable mining infrastructure that generates wealth that can be reinvested in the community.
11.
The working group of Zhejiang Province to rectify virtual currency "mining" sends group SMS through China Telecom (10000): If you find virtual currency "mining" activities, please call the reporting number.
12.
Guotai Junan recently issued an announcement to further implement the strict prohibition on the Group's employees to participate in virtual currency mining activities and to strictly prohibit the Group's employees from participating in mining activities in any form, as well as to prevent infection with mining viruses.
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