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Canadian Crypto Miner Came Up With A Heating System Based On Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Rigs

A crypto miner in Canada created a prototype heating system for his home using heat released from ASIC mining equipment. The Canadian miner announced that, on November 18th, through the social network Twitter. The heating system runs continuously and is capable of extracting excess heat within the 6,000 square-ft house. The prototype takes advantage of the heat produced by 6 Antminer S9 miners, while they mine Bitcoin (BTC).

Twitter user Jonbros01 shared photos and features of his prototype in a conversation thread with Bitcoiner Francis Pouliot, who initially broke the news that in Quebec, Canada, similar prototypes are being used to heat homes in winter. Pouliot added that he himself, in 2014, was heating his apartment with excess energy created by Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment.

He added that, during the summer, the heat produced by the mining equipment is sent by the prototype to the outside of the house automatically. “The heat is automatically sent out… Nothing to do, the air intake is adjusted, and unwanted heat is extracted dynamically,” he explained to a Twitter user.

Canadian Crypto Miner Came Up With A Heating System Based On Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Rigs

The Canadian miner said he has no problems with bad smells or noise. “Noise was a big focus point when we designed the system. It doesn’t make more noise than an inherited system. You don’t hear anything in the rooms. My son sleeps in the next room, and he doesn’t hear anything. According to the Canadian miner, it is so quiet that there is no suspicion that the house is being heated by crypto miners.

“The miners are always kept at the perfect operating temperature during the winter, and during the summer only the fresh air from outside is getting into the miners, while the hot air is immediately drawn out because we don’t want heat for the miners,” he said.

The Canadian crypto miner pointed out that his prototype does not require a ventilation system. “No need to cool the miner unless the outside temperature is above 35 degrees Celsius. But for the warmer area we already have a solution that works,” he said.

“Once Ebang E11 ++ is available we will make the required modification to adjust to the size difference. Then I’ll probably start marketing it,” he said. It should be noted that Ebang is a Chinese manufacturer of Bitcoin (BTC) miners, which in late September announced the launch of a new generation of more energy-efficient equipment.

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Crypto Mining: Chinese Government Sentenced A Man For Bitcoin (BTC) Mining

On October 8th, a Chinese news portal reported that a man was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and fined 100,000 Yuan (about $14,428) for stealing electricity from a railway company for crypto mining.

According to the portal, the conviction was filed on September 13th by the Datong Rail Transport Court in Shanxi Province in China. According to the source, the man was accused of stealing about the equivalent of 104,000 Yuan (about $15,000) in electricity to power 50 crypto mining equipment and three fans that were active 24 hours a day during November and December last year.

The accused one, named Xu Xinghua, “stole the power of the pole near the Second West Plant of the Kouquan Railway” and during his crypto mining operations, he generated 3.2 Bitcoin (BC), about 120,000 Yuan (roughly $17,300).

The Chinese court also noted that Xinghua will have to pay electricity bills and that its crypto mining equipment will be confiscated. It should be noted that, of the 50 operating equipment, five were damaged during operations.

China is not ok with non-licensed crypto mining

The government of China indicated last July that the non-licensed activities of crypto mining would be closed as of September. On that occasion, they clarified that illegal Bitcoin (BTC) mining activities corresponded to those not registered with government authorities and that required a high unauthorized energy demand, in cases in which they did not have a private electricity service contract.

A month before the announcement, the seizure of more than 200 Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) mining equipment in Anhui province became known. In that case, the owner of the crypto mining equipment had stolen about 150,000 kW per hour for more than a month.

According to sources, 70% of the crypto mining in China is concentrated in a single province, called Sichuan, which suffered flooding last July, affecting operations. This area is attractive for mining because of the abundance of water resources and cheap electricity, low population density, and cold weather.

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Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Community Expects The New Quebec Government To Raise Barriers For Miners

In Quebec, Canada, new expectations have been generated in the community of Bitcoin (BTC) miners about possible changes in the regulations of the electrical supply for this activity. That as a result of the elections held this October 1st in the Canadian province did not favor the governing coalition.

Throughout this year, the government of outgoing Prime Minister Philippe Couillard implemented a series of controversial measures that directly affected the Bitcoin (BTC) mining. However, since Monday’s electoral event resulted in the defeat of the ruling Liberal Party, the miners’ community hopes that the new authorities will correct the situation.

Francis Pouliot, CEO of Satoshi Portal and representative of Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem, expressed his opinions with the election results on Twitter. In his view, there is “little hope” that the new government will reverse the “infamous regulations and taxes” applied to Bitcoin (BTC) mining.

The Liberal Party will be replaced by Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), a conservative group created seven years ago, focused on job creation and private sector investment. However, CAQ representatives have not yet established an official position on crypto mining. In spite of this, some media reflect that the locals consider that this political platform, elected today, is, in general, the most friendly for the industry.

Controversies over electricity supply for Bitcoin (BTC) mining in Quebec, Canada

Quebec had earned a reputation as a “paradise” for crypto mining activity, thanks to its favorable electricity tariffs, the lowest in North America. Even at the end of last year, the government itself encouraged the installation of mining operations in the region.

However, the reaction of the authorities to the great demand generated by this expectation was to announce the suspension of the distribution of cheap energy to the Bitcoin (BTC) mining companies. In March, Quebec Prime Minister Philippe Couillard himself argued that Bitcoin (BTC) mining does not return any value to society, so his government was not interested in promoting such activity anymore.

In mid-2018, new measures implemented by the official electricity company Hydro-Quebec generated controversies among the Bitcoin (BTC) mining community, as some criteria were established for the distribution of cheap energy to certain companies. These criteria, based on the companies’ investment, were described as “discriminatory” against small Bitcoin (BTC) mining startups.

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Bitmain, Bitcoin (BTC) Mining Rigs Manufacturer, Reported Losses In Q2 2018

The Chinese Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment manufacturer Bitmain introduced an Initial Public Offering (IPO) application on the Hong Kong stock exchange, in which it confirms losses of $395 million in the second quarter of 2018, after almost surpassing its net profit for the whole of 2017 in Q1.

In the application for the IPO, Bitmain reveals its business figures until the second quarter of 2018

After doubling its sales in 2016 compared with 2015, and almost multiplying them by 10 in 2017, the Chinese manufacturer obtained more revenue in the first half of 2018 than in the whole of 2017, as shown.

The losses are attributed to the drop in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) in 2018, about 67%, from its January 2018 peak of $19,608, to its current value of around $6,500. This notorious decrease affects the profitability of Bitcoin (BTC) mining, although it is known that miners, in general, do not stop investing in better equipment.

Bitmain was already preparing its IPO, with some incidents such as leaked documents about its assets in cryptocurrencies, or support publications from other companies that were later rejected, although it finally formalized the IPO request this Wednesday.

The drop in Bitcoin (BTC) price affected Bitmain revenues in Q2 2018

The sharp rise in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) in 2017, which led to an increase in Bitmain sales at the beginning of this year, also led to the rise in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment as demand exceeded supply. In the second quarter of 2018, that dynamic is reversed, as Bitmain had acquired a large inventory of ASIC chips and components to increase production and much of the equipment was not sold.

Bitmain confirms the decline in prices in 2018, comparing the average price of its equipment sold in the first half of 2017 with the average price in 2018, from $1,191 to $972. The cause of the decline, Bitmain says, is the decline in the expected return per unit of one mined Bitcoin (BTC).

As for its cryptocurrencies holdings, the Bitmain IPO filing does not specify the amounts for cryptos the Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment manufacturer has, but it points out that it fell from $1.172.4 million in T1 to $886.9 million in T2, possibly linked to the decline in the price of BCH in that period.

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Crypto News Tech

A Canadian Company Partnered With Samsung To Develop 10-nm ASIC Chips for Bitcoin (BTC) Mining

The Canadian company Squire Mining announced on Tuesday in Vancouver, Canada, an alliance with South Korean companies Gaonchips and Samsung Electronics, for the design and production of 10-nanometer ASIC chips for Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment.

On August 1st, Squire Mining announced that it had contracted a company to design, test and manufacture an ASIC chip for Bitcoin (BTC) mining. This Tuesday, the Canadian company stated in a press release that it chose Gaonchips as the manufacturer of the integrated microcircuits and Samsung Electronics as the producer of the 10-nanometer ASIC chips themselves.

As manufacturing equipment handles smaller scales, the same semiconductor substrate can accommodate more transistors. It is for this reason that the minimum size of the components included in the chip, or the minimum separation between two conductive wires, expressed in nanometers, determines how advanced the manufacturing process is.

While Samsung and other semiconductor manufacturers have begun to produce 7nm chips, these are more expensive than 10nm chips. Although this implies that the respective equipment has a lower hash rate than the 7 nm equipment, the price/performance ratio can be attractive in the competitive Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment market, clearly dominated by the Chinese manufacturer Bitmain.

Canadian company partnered with Samsung to produce 10-nm ASIC chips for Bitcoin (BTC) mining

Squire programmers and developers are already working with Gaonchips on fine-tuning the first prototype of the ASIC chip, says the Canadian firm. After confirming that the prototype meets all the specifications and design requirements, they would commence the first stage of mass production of the 10-nanometer ASIC chips themselves, operated by Samsung.

The first prototype makes it possible to test the software and check that the final chip will integrate correctly with the other components of the finished Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment.

For this purpose, a transistor matrix is used, the connections of which are programmed according to the design. This field-programmable FPGA logic gate array precedes mass production. In the case of announced ASIC chips, that FPGA prototype should be ready by the end of the month, says Squire.

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