BT Daily New: The Upcoming Release of Bitcoin core 24.0
1. The Upcoming Release of Bitcoin core 24.0
The Bitcoin Core project produces a new major release of its software roughly every six months. The 24th major release is currently in its release candidate phase, which means that it is being tested and could technically be released any day now (though this phase will probably last a few more weeks). In the episode, van Wirdum and Provoost discuss seven of the most notable changes included in Bitcoin Core 24.0.
This includes a change to how nodes download blocks when they sync with the network. While previous Bitcoin Core versions started by downloading only block headers to make sure that the blocks they download have sufficient proof-of-work, Bitcoin Core 24.0 nodes will initially not store these block headers in order to prevent a certain type of resource exhaustion attack. Van Wirdum and Provoost explain that this should eventually also allow for the removal of any checkpoints in the Bitcoin Core codebase.
They go on to explain that Bitcoin Core 24.0 also includes an added option for users to apply full replace-by-fee (RBF) logic. Until now, Bitcoin Core nodes applied the “first seen” rule, which meant that conflicting transactions wouldn’t be accepted in the node's memory pool (mempool) and forwarded to peers. With this upcoming release, users can choose to make their nodes accept and forward conflicting transactions if they include a higher fee than (the) earlier transaction(s) they conflict with.
Further upgrades discussed by van Wirdum and Provoost include a tool to migrate legacy wallets to descriptor wallets, initial miniscript support, default use of RBF when creating transactions, an improved unspent transaction output (UTXO) selection algorithm which randomizes change output amounts for extra privacy and a new “send all” function to spend a particular (set of) UTXO(s) in full.
2. Ethereum Merge: Is Ethereum Mining Still Worth it?
In the coming months and years, there could be an additional migration of Ethereum miners. But other solutions are also being discussed in the mining industry. With the transformation to Ethereum, a huge source of income for the industry, but also individual miners, will fade. The miners have the following alternatives:Migration to other networks
The most obvious solution is probably migrating to other networks. The miners can no longer mine on Ethereum, but they are already moving to mine Ravencoin. Also, probably the biggest beneficiary is Ethereum Classic. This network arose from a hard fork of the Ethereum network and is an “old version” of the original Ethereum.
Selling material and switching to staking
A second option for Ethereum miners is to accept the new Ethereum conditions and switch to Proof-of-Stake. To achieve the same profits as mining, companies, and individuals need massive amounts of ether tokens.
Provision of computing power to other areas
The third solution for Ethereum miners is to allocate computing power to other areas to keep profits relatively stable. A big mining company called Hut 8 has already stated that these resources can be delivered “in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning or VFX rendering”.
3. Norway’s government proposes eliminating reduced electricity tax for Bitcoin miners
Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, the finance minister of Norway, has suggested the government abolish a scheme that allows crypto data centers to pay a reduced rate on electricity.“We are in a completely different situation in the power market now than when the reduced rate for data centers was introduced in 2016,” said the finance minister. “In many places, the power supply is now under pressure, which causes prices to rise. At the same time, we are seeing an increase in cryptocurrency mining in Norway. We need this power for the community.”
In May, Norway’s Parliament rejected a proposal to ban crypto mining first introduced by the country’s Red Party. Jaran Mellerud, an analyst at Arcane Research, told Cointelegraph at the time that Norway’s political parties would “likely make one more attempt at increasing the power tax specifically for miners” with an outright ban unlikely to happen.
Many BTC mining firms currently operate in Norway, using 100% renewable energy sources and contributing 0.74% of the global Bitcoin hash rate, according to data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. However, many residents of the Sortland municipality in the north of the country have complained about noise pollution from miners — echoing concerns from lawmakers in the United States.
4. Grayscale announces new arm to invest in Bitcoin mining hardware
Grayscale Investments announced on Oct. 6 the formation of Grayscale Digital Infrastructure Opportunities LLC ("GDIO"), a co-investment opportunity focused on Bitcoin mining hardware. By leveraging its affiliated staking infrastructure firm, Foundry, the company plans to acquire mining equipment at reduced prices during the crypto winter.The company said the new entity will be available to individuals and institutional accredited investors at a minimum investment of $25,000. The funding is expected to be completed before the end of this year and will offer liquidity similar to private equity or infrastructure assets that have a three-to-five-year investment horizon, as Bloomberg reports. Investors who are considered accredited must meet certain criteria regarding their income, net worth, qualifications and knowledge of financial markets.
5. Argo Has Decided to Increase Its Funds To $27 Million (USD) In Order to Expand Its Capital Market Presence
The popular crypto mining leader in the world, Agro Blockchain, has decided to raise the funds up to $27 million (USD) after the company decided to invest its 87 million shares with an unknown investor. And it decided to sell its mining machines to raise the market capital, which has been affected recently.The Chief Executive of the company stated that “We are convinced that taking these steps will improve the position of the company to navigate the current market conditions and preserve shareholder value.”
Not only that, Bitcoin miner Agro blockchain decided to sell its 12% of mining machines to the dealers, which helped to raise the company’s market value up to six million euros. But it results in a decline of the company’s mining capacity to nearly 2.9 EH/s.
Furthermore, he added that “The sale of the 3,400 Bitmain machines generates cash in the near term, and the subscription with a major strategic investor strengthens the balance sheet while adding significant expertise in Bitcoin mining and digital asset management to the Board.”