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  • Stacks (STX), Optimism (OP), Kaspa (KAS) rally as Bitcoin soars

    Stacks (STX), Optimism (OP), Kaspa (KAS) rally as Bitcoin soars

    • Stacks (STX) price was up 25% as Bitcoin (BTC) broke above $28k for the first time in weeks.
    • Optimism (OP) and Kaspa (KAS) also gained double-digits.
    • The tokens were outperforming major altcoins such as Ethereum, BNB and XRP.

    As Bitcoin (BTC) broke to highs above $28k on Tuesday, several altcoins took cue to post huge moves. 

    Top market cap coins like Ethereum (ETH), BNB (BNB), XRP (XRP) saw modest gains. However, a few stand out performers on the day included Stacks (STX), Optimism (OP) and Kaspa (KAS).

    Stacks price

    Stacks (STX) is outperforming peers today with a 25% price surge in the past 24 hours. The coin’s stellar performance has recently been down to the growing popularity of Bitcoin Ordinals. With Bitcoin-based NFTs on the rise, the demand for STX has increased.

    The token traded to highs of $0.76 on Tuesday, up from lows of $0.58. The all-time high for Stacks is $3.39, which was reached in December 2021.

    Optimism price

    Optimism (OP) price was up 18% at the time of writing. The price of the L2 blockchain hit $1.34 on Tuesday afternoon after trading at lows of $1.06 this week, with the gains coming on the back of the broader market’s bounce.

    However, there was another likely trigger for OP price – the launch of an Optimism-powered testnet on the BNB Chain. The opBNB testnet went live on Binance’s BNB Chain on Monday and saw the OP token begin to soar amid increased trading volumes. Optimism price hit its all-time high of $3.22 in February this year.

    Kaspa price

    Kaspa (KAS) also saw double digit gains on Tuesday to rank among the biggest gainers in the top 100 coins by market cap. With price up more than 11% on the day, KAS inched further into bulls’ territory with over 40% upward action in the past week. 

    KAS/USD was trading at $0.022 at the time of writing, which is about 46% off the coin’s all-time high of $0.043 reached in April this year.

    Recently, the Kaspa team announced a funding pool initiative that targeted eventual KAS listing on the cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda. The L1 proof-of-work blockchain network implements the GHOST protocol, which has been cited in the whitepapers of Ethereum, Cardano and XRP.

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  • Bitcoin signals potential breakdown, top analyst says

    Bitcoin signals potential breakdown, top analyst says

    • Bitcoin (BTC) is positioned for further downside as a new Weekly Close below the 200-week moving average signals.
    • BTC rejecting from above $26k would welcome bears to the party as double-confirmation of the breakdown.
    • According to crypto analyst Rekt Capital, the 200-week MA is a robust resistance zone. 

    As Bitcoin bulls face rejection from above $26k, a top analyst has pointed out the benchmark cryptocurrency’s price faces fresh downside pressure.

    BTC price is currently 2.4% up in the past week, but has failed to break past key resistance around $26,600. The breakdown to lows of $24,800 last week amid negative regulatory headlines appears to have only emboldened bears further.

    Bitcoin positioned for downside

    According to crypto analyst Rekt Capital, the technical outlook for BTC suggests more weakness is likely. This is after a new weekly close below the 200-week moving average, which signals a “double confirmation of [a] breakdown,” the analyst noted.

    Last week, Bitcoin price recovered from lows of $24.8k after the market reacted sharply to the SEC’s lawsuits against crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase. Commenting after the upside, Rekt Capital suggested that Bitcoin had “run straight into the 200-week MA”

    He noted that if bears managed to turn this zone into new resistance, there was likelihood BTC could see a “two-step breakdown confirmation.” Such a price scenario was likely to result in further downside pressure.

    “Technically, BTC is positioned for downside. Why? Because it has produced another, new Weekly Close below the 200-week MA. As a result, $BTC has shown double-confirmation of breakdown from the 200-week MA. Continued rejection here could send price lower,” he tweeted on Monday, pointing to last week’s prediction.

    Here’s a chart the analyst shared, showing Bitcoin’s rejection at both a downtrend line and the 200-week MA.

    If Bitcoin gives up the $26k level again, a run to June lows could open up room for more losses. However, as BitMEX founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes pointed out last week, its likely crypto will hit the pain of an extended sideways action before a new trigger sets up an “autumn rally.”

    As CoinJournal reported, the BitMEX founder believes the trigger will be retail trading, and a big possibility is this next bull market is led by the Chinese trader. BlackRock filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF could also be a significant tailwind in coming months.

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  • Bitcoin shrimps to fish added 254% of mined BTC last month

    Bitcoin shrimps to fish added 254% of mined BTC last month

    • Bitcoin’s price struggles aside, last month saw more entities with less than 100 BTC buy 2.54X of all coins mined.
    • Glassnode data shows these entities added 2,286 BTC per day.
    • Shrimps increased their BTC holdings by 117% last month, while crabs added 80% and fish bought 57% of mined bitcoin.

    It appears Bitcoin (BTC) wallet addresses with under 100 BTC have used the recent dump in the flagship cryptocurrency’s value to add to their positions.

    According to on-chain data shared by Glassnode, the cohorts from shrimps (less than 1 BTC) to fish (less than 100 BTC), purchased 2.54x of daily mined supply over the past month. With the current daily mined coins at approximately 900, these entities scooped 2,286 BTC per day.

    Shrimps and crabs increase total BTC holdings 117% and 80% respectively

    As can be seen in the chart below, the monthly absorption rates for shrimps, crabs and fish was 117%, 80% and 57% respectively. That’s a massive 254% in terms of the share of mined coins – shrimps, crabs and octopus and fish added to their total holdings last month. With Bitcoin price around $26,300, that’s more than $60 million worth BTC per day.

    Bitcoin monthly distribution rates for shrimps, crabs, octopus and fish. Source: Glassnode

    Shrimps now hold 1.26 million BTC, or 6.6% of the total circulating supply, up from roughly 4.86% a year ago. Crabs account for 2.03 million BTC, which is 10.5% of circulating supply. The cohort’s total holdings have increased from 8.7% from a year ago.

    Meanwhile, the supply held by whale entities continued to decline and stood at 34.4% as of June 2023. This is a decline of 45% since Bitcoin’s first halving in 2012, when whales accounted for 62.7% of total BTC supply. 

    Whales currently hold approximately 6.64 million BTC, down from a peak of 7.8 million BTC in 2016.

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  • Bitcoin correlation with stocks at 5-year low as regulatory crackdown takes toll

    Bitcoin correlation with stocks at 5-year low as regulatory crackdown takes toll

    Key Takeaways

    • Our Head of Research, Dan Ashmore, digs into Bitcoin’s relationship with stocks
    • Correlation between Bitcoin and the Nasdaq is at its lowest point since 2018
    • The Nasdaq is up 10% in the last month as stocks have surged off softer forecasts around interest rates and the macro climate
    • Bitcoin is down 9% in the same time frame, the US regulatory crackdown spreading fear about crypto’s future in the country 
    • Ashmore writes that the break in correlation surpasses what was seen in November 2022 amid the FTX collapse, when Bitcoin fell to $15,000 while stocks increased off positive inflation readings

    After ten consecutive interest rate hikes, the US Federal Reserve this week paused its rate hiking policy. The move was nearly unanimously anticipated by the market and movement after the meeting was relatively minimal.  

    However, over the past month, markets have been flying. The S&P 500 is up 6% in the last 30 days, now only 8.8% off an all-time high, despite being 27% below the mark in October. The Nasdaq is up 10% over the same timeframe – that is 15% below its all-time high from November 2021 but a tremendous resurgence considering it shed a third of its value in 2022.  

    And yet, something is being left behind: Bitcoin. 

    Bitcoin is now trading below $25,000 for the first time in three months. I put together a deep dive in March analysing the its underlying price movement to show how tightly it trades with the stock market. This was at a time when Bitcoin was rallying and banks were wobbling amid the Silicon Valley Bank fiasco. Suddenly, it was fashionable to declare Bitcoin as decoupling from the stock market. Ultimately, that wasn’t true. However, something very interesting has happened in the last month. 

    First, take a look at the path of the Nasdaq and Bitcoin since the start of 2022, which roughly coincides with the start of the bear market: 

    Clearly, the two have moved in lockstep. But two episodes jump out: the first is November 2022, when Bitcoin fell and the Nasdaq surged. The second is this past month. We discussed the 10% jump in the Nasdaq over the last month. However, Bitcoin has fallen 9% in the same timeframe. This marks a clear departure from what we would expect. Plotting the correlation (using 60-Day Pearson) shows this more directly:

    I touched on November 2022 above, and the swift fall in correlation can be seen on the chart. This was when FTX collapsed, sending the crypto market into a tailspin. At the same time, however, stocks raced upwards as softer inflation numbers were met by lower expectations around the future path of interest rates. 

    There were also less dramatic (but equally temporary) decouplings between Bitcoin and stocks in April/May 2022 and June/July 2022. On the chart below, I have pencilled in incidents which occurred during these periods:

    Indeed, what is different about November (FTX) and today is that we see a Bitcoin fall happening at the same time as a Nasdaq surge. While the Luna and Celsius incidents hurt crypto immensely, they came as stocks were also struggling and so the effect is not as dramatic in terms of correlation breaks (although is still tangible on the chart).

    But today, we are seeing the biggest break in the correlation trend over the last couple of years – surpassing even FTX. The 60-Day Pearson currently sits at -0.66, whereas the lowest it hit during the FTX crisis was -0.49. 

    Regulatory crackdown is suppressing prices

    The reason is obvious. The great regulatory crackdown in the US is freaking the market out, and for very good reason. The two biggest crypto companies on the planet, Binance and Coinbase, were both sued last week. 

    Crypto.com has suspended its institutional exchange, citing weak demand amid the regulatory woes. eToro and Robinhood pulled a bunch of tokens from their platforms following confirmation from the SEC that it viewed them as securities. Liquidity is dropping like a stone. 

    I wrote in-depth about the concern following the announcement of the Coinbase lawsuit last week, so I won’t rehash it here (that analysis is here). While I believe Bitcoin should be able to weather the storm long-term, the picture appears far murkier for other cryptocurrencies. 

    Make no mistake about it, the crypto industry faces a massive problem as long as lawmakers continue to turn the screw. The crisis very much feels existential for a lot of the crypto market. 

    Regarding Bitcoin, enthusiasts dream of a day when it can decouple and claim that title of uncorrelated hedge asset, or a store-of-value, akin to gold. I’ve done a lot of work around what that hypothetical future could look like, or what could lead the market to that point. But for now this remains just that: hypothetical.  Because while the correlation is at its lowest point in five years, it is not being driven by fundamentals and thus will inevitably spike back up. This is nothing more than the market reacting to what is a very bearish development around regulation in the US. 

    It’s not how investors hoped a decoupling would come. But if anyone doubted the market’s fear over the regulatory woes, or questioned why Bitcoin had not fallen more, looking at the break in correlation paints a very clear picture of how detrimental Gary Gensler’s games have been to the cryptocurrency industry. 

    In truth, it is not hyperbole to say that this is the most out of whack Bitcoin’s correlation has ever been whilst trading as a mainstream financial asset. Because back when it last happened in 2018, Bitcoin traded with such thin liquidity that its price action is largely irrelevant to draw conclusions from going forward. 

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  • Bitcoin price dips below $25k after Fed decision- what next?

    Bitcoin price dips below $25k after Fed decision- what next?

    • Bitcoin price fell below $25,000 after the Fed rate pause news.
    • An analyst points out that the decline saw bulls lose a 7-month trendline support and $20k-$22k could be next.
    • The main resistance zone is between $26k and $28.3k, which can be touched if BTC bounces back.

    Bitcoin price broke below the $25,000 level overnight Wednesday as bulls failed to hold a key support zone, with the new price weakness coming after the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate pause decision.

    Bitcoin had consolidated near $26k ahead of the Fed’s decision. However, as the markets reacted to the news, BTC dipped past $25,500, losing a major trendline that has acted as upside support for the past seven months.

    Analyst share short term Bitcoin price prediction

    Bitcoin’s decline below $25k now puts bulls at risk of further rot, a scenario that could crystalise if bears take control. In this case, downside pressure could allow sellers to target new lows.

    Crypto analyst Captain Faibik says:

    “$BTC Bulls have lost the 7-Month Major Trendline, Not a good Sign..!! Is it a TRAP or Bears are back in the Town? If it’s a trap and Bitcoin bounces back, reclaiming the 26.7k resistance, we could witness a Bullish Rally towards 31k. If Bears are back, Bitcoin may face more downward pressure, possibly testing the 20-22k area.”

    Bitcoin price chart shared by Captain Faibik on Twitter

    Another analyst, Ali, says BTC has its most important support area in the $22.7k-23.6k region. On the upside, the main resistance zone lies between $26k and 28.3k. This suggests a bounce could see Bitcoin reclaim this zone and possibly look to retest the $30k area.

    “Bitcoin sits on thin ice! Notice the most important support zone is between $22,785 and $23,595 where 1.34 million wallets hold 450,000 $BTC. On the flip side, #BTC faces stiff resistance between $26,000 and $28,250 where 5.18 million wallets bought 2.1 million BTC,” the analyst tweeted.

    While the sub-$25k level offers a buy the dip opportunity, crypto analyst Rekt Capital notes that the loss of $26,600 threatens turning it into stiff resistance. A rejection of this level after the Weekly Close below could mean “lower $20000s await.”

    Bitcoin traded at $24,878 early Thursday morning, about 4% down as altcoins mirrored the losses. The total crypto market cap was down 3.8%, with Ethereum trading at $1,674 and XRP at $0.47 – down 6% and 7.3% respectively at the time of writing.

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  • Here’s why the Nasdaq 100 and Bitcoin correlation has faded

    Here’s why the Nasdaq 100 and Bitcoin correlation has faded

    • Bitcoin price has crashed by about $6,000 from its highest point this year.

    • Nasdaq has moved into a strong bull market because of AI.

    • The Federal Reserve will conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday.

    Nasdaq 100 and Bitcoin prices have moved in the opposite direction in the past few weeks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index has soared to the highest level since April last year. In all, it has jumped by almost 40% from the lowest level this year. 

    Bitcoin price, on the other hand, has been stuck at the important support level at $25,200. It has dropped by more than $6,000 from its highest level this year. In the past, Nasdaq 100 and Bitcoin had a close correlation because they are often seen as high-risk assets.

    Regulatory concerns

    The main reason why the Nasdaq 100 and Bitcoin price correlation has faded is the ongoing crackdown in the United States. On Monday last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a major lawsuit against Binance, the biggest company in the industry.

    The agency accused the company of deceptive practices, commingling funds, and offering its services in the United States illegally. Then on Tuesday, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, the biggest company in the US. It accused Coinbase of listing unregistered securities to American customers.

    The regulatory crackdown comes at a time when the crypto industry has gone through a challenging period. Last November, FTX, a major crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy, costing invetors billions of dollars. 

    Crypto companies argue that the SEC and other policymakers have not issued clear guidance about the crypto industry. For example, Coinbase questioned why the SEC allowed it to go public if it offered illegal products.

    Why Nasdaq 100 index is soaring

    On the other hand, the Nasdaq 100 index is soaring because of FOMO and the ongoing artificial intelligence hype. A closer look at the top movers in the Nasdaq 100 index shows that they have a thing to do with AI.

    Nvidia share price has jumped by more than 180% this year, giving it a market cap of over $1 trillion. Tesla, which is also investing in AI, has soared by over 110% while Broadcom, Amazon, and Palo Alto Networks have risen by more than 70%.

    Therefore, there is a likelihood that investors are rotating from the high-risk crypto industry to invest in stocks. Stocks are widely seen as being less risky than cryptocurrencies. 

    Still, there is a likelihood that cryptocurrencies will bounce back later this month as the regulatory concerns ease. As we have seen in the past, these cases tend to take years to conclude. 

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  • Ordinals and enterprise adoption drove network revenues for Bitcoin and Ethereum in May: Report

    Ordinals and enterprise adoption drove network revenues for Bitcoin and Ethereum in May: Report

    • Bitcoin revenue jumped 249% YoY in May, while Ethereum network fees rose 53.7% in May, according to a research report by the ETC Group.
    • Ordinals and enterprise adoption drove network revenues for Bitcoin and Ethereum respectively.
    • Regulation and macroeconomics remain key factors even as benefits of tokenisation attracts major banks.

    The current market outlook for Bitcoin and crypto continues to suffer from the flurry of activities around the actions of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after it sued Binance and Coinbase. 

    While June started off with wild volatility that has pegged prices below key levels, a new report suggests the market headwinds in May did little to slow down network revenue generation for the world’s two largest blockchains by market cap over the month.

    Bitcoin and Ethereum network growth

    The report by German-based ETP (exchange-traded products) issuer ETC Group highlights a significant jump in network revenue for both Bitcoin and Ethereum over the past month. 

    ETC Group Research team’s Tom Rodgers (Head of Research) and Hanut Singh (a Research Analyst at ETC Group and formely with CoinJournal), shared the outlook via an overview of the biggest trends and events in crypto over the month – from regulation to macroeconomics and adoption as signaled by on-chain data.

    Writing in the Digital Assets and Metaverse Monthly Review: May 2023, Rodgers and Hanut noted that although continued headwinds saw the total crypto market cap flatline near $1.1 trillion. 

    On the macro level, the uncertainty around the US debt ceiling debate weighed on crypto markets. Elsewhere, the regulatory front saw the non-friendly approach by the US SEC and UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) continue to impact sentiment. 

    However, despite these factors, there was noteworthy growth in terms of network revenue for the leading blockchains.

    “…revenues generated by the two largest blockchains by market cap rose substantially in May due to increasing user bases and new technological developments, most notably Ordinals for Bitcoin, and increasing adoption for Ethereum enterprise solutions,” the ETC Group research team wrote.

    Ordinals helped push Bitcoin revenue up 249% YoY in May

    According to the ETC Group report, the weekly revenue on the Bitcoin network increased by 249% year over year in May. This was largely driven by the spike in Ordinals, which as CoinJournal reported here, saw BTC miners record multi-year highs in transaction revenue.

    The demand for the Bitcoin Ordinals meant transaction fees amounted to 29.57% of monthly revenue for miners – the last time it was that high was during the 2017 bull market that had seen the first real foray into crypto by institutional investors.

    Ethereum network fees jumped 53.7% in May

    For Ethereum, renewed interest in staking was visible in May despite the fears of a major withdrawal rout after the Shapella upgrade. Indeed, as the ETC Group report highlights, the supply of staked ETH on the mainnet rose from 14% to almost 20% at the end of the month. About $46 billion worth of ETH was staked, representing a 200% jump in the percentage of supply locked on the network.

    This has happened even as ETH supply has declined since the Merge. Meanwhile, monthly fees rose by 53.7% in the month – from $241 million in April to $448 million in May. Increased demand for Ethereum blockspace is behind the jump in total network fees, the researchers noted.

    Crypto regulation in the US

    While US presidential candidates Ron DeSantis (R) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (D) have indicated support for Bitcoin, the overall outlook on US crypto regulation remains largely hostile even with bipartisan engagements.

    The SEC recently ramped up its crackdown with the lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, even as the crypto community highly anticipates the outcome of another high profile case between the SEC and Ripple Labs over the XRP token.

    This even as Asia emerged as a strong destination for crypto, led by Hong Kong’s recent regulatory guidelines that have seen OKX, Huobi and other exchanges apply for licenses. The adoption of the MiCA rules by Europe was also a notable event that could make the bloc attractive to more US-based crypto businesses.

    Tokenisation sees major banks eye blockchain adoption

    May also witnessed increased institutional interest in blockchain amid further growth in tokenisation.

    Interest peaked after State Street, the second-oldest US bank, hinted at a move likely to help bring $1.4 trillion worth of assets onto the blockchain via tokenisation of ETFs. The issue of tokenisation and its benefits had also previously been highlighted by the Bank of New York Mellon. 

    That’s also the view of Citibank, which has suggested tokenisation could see up to $4 trillion of liquid and illiquid assets brought on-chain.

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  • Solo Bitcoin miner wins 6.25 BTC block reward

    Solo Bitcoin miner wins 6.25 BTC block reward

    • A solo Bitcoin miner earned the 6.25 BTC block reward after beating the odds to solve block 793607.
    • The miner reportedly used an Antminer S9 with about 17 TH.
    • At today’s Bitcoin mining difficulty and with 17 TH, a solo miner would need an average of 450 years to land a block.

    With Bitcoin price struggling below $26,000, and the wider crypto market impacted by recent regulatory events, there’s has been very little to cheer Bitcoiners.

    But for a solo BTC miner, a lucky break had them strike gold with the winning of a block reward. According to on-chain data, the miner beat staggering odds to mine block 793607 and earn the 6.25 BTC block reward.

    BTC miner with single Antminer S9 hits jackpot

    The solo miner reportedly achieved the once-in-a-life-time feat using a single Antminer S9 and accounted for only 17 terahashes (TH). Their “lottery” win was worth about $160,000 at the time of block reward.

    “Congratulations to miner 151XTfHBfaDqoNWGGeYobNX2YzFFWuB5YD with only ~17TH for solving the 275th block at http://solo.ckpool.org! That is likely a single S9 miner. A miner of this size would only solve a block once every ~450 years on average,” tweeted Con Kolivas, a CGMiner software engineer and the admin of Solo CKPool.  

    It’s not the first time a solo miner has hit such a jackpot, with CKPool apparently seeing seven such instances since January. However, the feat is increasingly difficult as the Bitcoin hashrate and mining difficulty have increased.

    According to data from Blockchain.com, the current Bitcoin mining difficulty is 51.23 trillion hashes. Mining difficulty looks at how difficult it is to mine the next block, that is how many hashes a miner must generate to find and solve a valid block. The current difficulty is at all-time highs and has most blocks solved by major mining pools and companies.

    The difficulty adjusts every 2016 blocks (about two weeks’ time) and can go up or down. The next adjustment expected on June 14 will see the difficulty jump by about 2.92% to 52.73 T.

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  • Bitcoin mining difficulty hits all-time high, above 50 trillion hashes

    Bitcoin mining difficulty hits all-time high, above 50 trillion hashes

    Key Takeaways

    • Bitcoin mining difficulty has surpassed 50 trillion hashes for the first time ever
    • Higher difficulty means more competition and less profit for miners, but also more security for the Bitcoin network
    • Higher mining difficulty means greater energy input required to mine Bitcoin, meaning greater cost for miners
    • Mining stocks have underperformed Bitcoin significantly over the last year

    It has never been so difficult to mine Bitcoin. Literally. Bitcoin mining difficulty continues to rise incessantly, surpassing the 50 trillion hash mark for the first time ever last week.

    What is Bitcoin mining difficulty?

    If it were not for the Bitcoin mining difficulty adjustment, blocks would be appended to the blockchain at an increasing speed as more miners joined the Bitcoin network. In such a way, the Bitcoin mining difficulty adjusts via an automatic algorithm to ensure blocks are appended to the ever-growing blockchain at consistent 10 minute intervals.

    As more miners join the network, difficulty rises. In such a way, blocks do not get discovered quicker as more miners join the network. This difficulty adjustment is thus vital to ensure the supply of Bitcoin is released at a pre-programmed pace, as outlined by the anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto in the Bitcoin whitepaper. 

    This explains how, in the early days, mining could be carried out on a personal laptop, because Bitcoin was so niche and miners were so few and far between – hence the mining difficulty was far lower. This is why you hear stories of miners who find (or lose) stashes of Bitcoin on old hard drives which were close to worthless when they were mined. 

    Today, however, Bitcoin is well and truly in the mainstream, and mining difficulty has risen accordingly. Most mining is carried out by supercomputers, while there are many public companies carrying out the task.  

    What does increasing mining difficulty mean?

    Mining difficulty is increasing because more computational power is being put towards Bitcoin mining. The hash rate is what we refer to as the computational power of the Bitcoin network. Looking at the chart, this is at an all-time high – which makes intuitive sense, given mining difficulty is also at an all-time high. 

    For the Bitcoin network as a whole, this is a good thing. Bitcoin’s hash rate is a crucial indicator of the security of the network. A higher hash rate means Bitcoin is more resistant to an attack by a malevolent actor. This is because the higher the hash rate, the more expensive and implausible it is for an actor (or a group of actors) to seize control of 51% of the network, when Bitcoin could be exposed to what is known as a 51% attack (coins could be double spent and the veracity of the blockchain would be in doubt). 

    However, there are downsides to this, too. I detailed this in depth last week in a report on Bitcoin mining stocks. In summary, more hash power means greater cost for miners, as the increased difficulty means a greater amount of energy is required to power the computers working to validate the transactions on the blockchain. This is why miners margins are getting cut into as more miners join the network (rising electricity costs also do not help). 

    “The rapid decline in the Bitcoin price, down from $68,000 at the peak of the bull market in late 2021, has obviously hurt the mining industry”, says Max Coupland, director of CoinJournal. “However, that is far from the only problem facing miners. The mining difficulty hitting an all-time high means greater amounts of energy are required to mine, at a time when inflation and the Russian war have pushed the price of energy up immensely”. 

    The mining industry is hence extremely volatile, as not only is it sensitive to the volatility of Bitcoin itself, but it also suffers from rising energy costs. The below chart demonstrates how mining stocks have underperformed Bitcoin in recent times. It looks at the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF, which tracks mining companies and was launched in February 2022. 

    With Bitcoin mining difficulty hitting an all-time high, racing past the 50 trillion hash mark for the first time ever, things won’t get any easier for miners. However, like always, it will ultimately come down to the Bitcoin price. With block rewards and transaction fees recouped in the form of Bitcoin, and the entire industry built upon this asset, mining companies will go as far as the Bitcoin price takes them.

    If you use our data, then we would appreciate a link back to https://coinjournal.net. Crediting our work with a link helps us to keep providing you with data analysis research.

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  • Bitcoin network hash rate hit a record high in May

    Bitcoin network hash rate hit a record high in May

    bitcoin network hash rate record high may
    • Bitcoin network activity climbed for the fifth month straight.
    • Mining difficulty and transaction fee also climbed in May.
    • The world’s largest cryptocurrency lost about 8.0% last month.

    Bitcoin may have lost about 8.0% last month on macro uncertainty but the network activity remained incredibly strong.

    JPMorgan analyst expects a slowdown in hash rate

    In May, the daily network hash rate – a closely followed metric that indicates network’s health climbed to a record high. It was the fifth consecutive month of increase for the said indicator.

    Simply put, larger the hash rate, the more secure is the network. Nonetheless, Reginald Smith – a JPMorgan analyst said in a note on Friday:

    Our sense is that network hash rate growth could slow over the coming months (possibly lagging BTC price appreciation) as funding available rack space is hard to come by.

    In terms of market cap, the 13 U.S. listed miners that JPMorgan tracks noted an aggregate increase of 5.0% last month to $6.7 billion.

    Mining difficulty and transaction fee also increased

    Mining difficulty – another metric that typically moves in tandem with the Bitcoin hash rate – also climbed to a record high in May.

    Recent data confirmed the crypto transaction fee to have increased last month as well. JPMorgan’s Smith also said in his research note:

    Transaction fees spiked to over 5 Bitcoin per block mined in early May, which should drive modest C2Q23 earnings upside for the industry at large.

    In recent weeks, though, Bitcoin transaction fees have returned close to its historic average of about 0.5 BTC per block mined. Last week, JPMorgan said Bitcoin should be trading at $45,000.

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