Our experts explained how a private miner managed to get a reward for the found block. With hardly noticeable computing power he was able to get 6 BTC

A lucky private miner, with barely a fraction of the processing power in the Bitcoin network. He received a reward of 6.35 BTC for finding a block numbered 772,793.

The chances of adding a block as a single miner are determined by the number of hashes. Which the miner device calculates per second. Relative to the total number of hashes that all the machines on the network compute each second.

Typically, blocks are mined by large pools combining the power of thousands of devices participating in a pool of users. The largest of them are Foundry, AntPool and Exchange of Binance’s own pool.

At the time the block was added to blockchain, the total bitcoin hashrate was just over 269 EH/s. That is, a single miner’s hash rate of 10 TH/s was only 0.000000037% of the total computing power of that network.

Chance of getting such a reward is like a big win in a lottery

Our experts say that this is an extremely atypical case. One miner privately can work for 30 years and not pick up the right hash during this time. At the same time he will consume electricity and produce a resource of equipment. The risks of finding nothing and making a loss are much greater.

It’s like buying a lottery ticket. You can buy one ticket every day and not get a win. Or you can buy one single time and win, but the chances are slim. If you approach mining as a business, it is more pragmatic to get a more modest but guaranteed income every day.

Now hashrate of network is 283 million TH/s against 10,6 TH/s capacity of unknown miner. In theory, with such parameters of the equipment it should mine one block out of almost 27 thousand mined blocks. Considering that about 900 BTC are mined per day, that’s about one block in 81 years.

Solo mining can be used when mining new coins, where the network capacity is quite low. And one person’s equipment takes a noticeable share of the entire processing power of the network. With pools, the probability of receiving remuneration increases many times over. But the user receives only a share of the reward, proportionally calculated from the entire computing power of the pool.

Bitcointalk forum users, discussing the lucky miner. came to the conclusion that his setup consisted of four rudimentary USB miners, each of which produced no more than 3 TH/s and cost about $200.

Our experts congratulate this guy, but remind us that it was a lucky lottery ticket.

Global hype around virtual worlds provokes demand for digital assets and land in Metaverse blockchain projects. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the topic of Metaverse was widely discussed. A special press conference was organized during the event. The WEF initiative entitled “Defining and Building the Metaverse” was presented.

More than 120 people were involved in creating the project. At one of the panel discussions, the first two documents of the initiative were discussed. The participants broke down the issues of accessibility, management systems and the role of the consumer in the Metaverse of the future. A working prototype of the WEF’s own Metaverse – Global Collaboration Village – was also demonstrated during the forum.

As often happens, global tendencies resonate with what is happening on the crypto market. A December CoinWire survey of more than 10,000 people interested in cryptocurrencies. Showed significant interest from people in the industry in Metaverse in general. More than 60% of respondents think that technology can reshape the mechanisms of social interaction and entertainment.

Survey participants also believe that the spread of metaverse will change the scenarios of interaction with finance, business and education spheres. More than half of those who have invested in metaverse-related companies in one form or another confirmed that they also own crypto assets.

Tokens from Metaverse projects go up in price

There are at least three major metaverse. The capitalization of their internal assets is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars: The Sandbox, Decentraland and Otherside. The growing excitement around virtual spaces provokes demand for project tokens. In the first month of this year, the domestic cryptocurrencies of the leading metacities are already showing growth of tens of percent. And creating a trend of price growth for less-capitalized assets of the Metaverse category as well.

Decentraland’s domestic currency (MANA) has doubled in just two weeks. The coin began to rise in value on January 13, when the developers announced several technical innovations in the official Twitter account of the project. And it showed itself as one of the most profitable crypto-assets for investing. Which rose in the first month of this year.

The Sandbox native token (SAND) showed an increase of more than 80% in the same period. And the internal currency of the Otherside universe (APE) has grown about one and a half times since the beginning of the year. The growth of the latter is associated with the excitement around the launch of the NFT collection. Which gives access to the new Dookey Dash game from Yuga Labs, the company behind Otherside. NFT passes were given to image holders from the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club. And their daily secondary market turnover after launch exceeded $27 million.

Some cryptoprojects do not imply the creation of metaverse as such. But aggregators categorize their coins as “Metaverse”. As a rule, these are developers of Play-to-Earn (P2E) games or other services indirectly related to virtual worlds. Whose assets, like digital land parcels, are traded on the open market in NFT form.

Demand for Virtual Lands is also growing

As for parcels of land in the metaverse. This form of investment has been quite successful in the past year. According to a report by marketplace Parcel.co. Despite the turmoil in the crypto market, the turnover of virtual real estate transactions in 2022 grew by 180%. And it exceeded $1.4 billion, up from $0.5 billion in 2021.

Leader in site sales was the Otherside project. It’s own metaverse was launched last May. The excitement around the land was provided by an extensive marketing campaign. As well as a common storyline tie Otherside with the acclaimed NFT-collections BAYC and MAYC. According to our analysts, within three months after the launch digital land sales in Otherside reached $ 900 million. And in general, last year the project took over 75% of sales.

Others leaders in sales for 2022 include The Sandbox (11%), Decentraland (5%), NFT Worlds (8%) and Somnium Space (1%). The market leaders also had the largest sales: 333.33 ETH in Otherside, 100 ETH in The Sandbox, and 81 ETH in Decentraland. Plots in several less capitalized metaverse. Which are still in development. They are also traded as an asset on NFT marketplaces. Their secondary market turnover over the past year is estimated at $60 million.

The growing adoption of VR technology and the development of virtual worlds has spurred demand for virtual land. This has sparked sales both within the cryptocommunity and from global brands. The future prospects for this market remain optimistic. That’s because the metaverse sphere is attracting more and more attention and investment. In 2023, the focus of the market will be on games in the Web 3.0 segment. As well as the digital fashion industry and various scenarios for the use of virtual land plots.

Our experts talked about the likely scenarios for resuming the business of bankrupt exchange FTX and prospects for its native token. Review by Crypto-Upvotes experts

The bankrupt crypto exchange FTX may reopen. The platform’s new CEO, John Ray, told The Wall Street Journal that he considers that a possibility.

When FTX collapsed in November 2022, triggering the collapse of the crypto market and a series of new problems for major industry players. John Ray then took over the company and began the bankruptcy process, while examining its surviving assets. He says a task force under his leadership is now looking into the possibility of restarting FTX.

When restarting business exchange affected customers can expect to return funds in a larger amount than in the case of the liquidation of its assets or the sale of the platform. This week, FTX lawyers disclosed $3.5 billion in surviving liquid assets of the exchange.

Confidence in this exchange is lost, but how to get it back?

Our experts doubt in reality of FTX relaunch, because its reputation is the worst. But the cryptocurrency market has seen more than that, they say, remembering the relaunch of exchange BTC-e under new brand WEX in 2017. According to our expert, FTX will need new investors to revive its business. Who will help avoid bankruptcy and invest in a marketing campaign to attract users.

A system of incentives for those who have a lot of money on FTX, will also be needed. FTX could issue new tokens corresponding to deposit debt. Which will be gradually redeemed as the exchange has funds.

A similar experience took place on the Bitfinex exchange with its BFX debt tokens. Which were accrued to affected users after a major hacking attack in 2016. Such a move helped Bitfinex fully pay off its debts to customers a year after the incident.

FTX may take a year to two years to recover until all liabilities are paid. FTX relaunch can only happen for the U.S. market, and only with full compliance with local regulators, says our expert.

As Bitfinex experience shows, user trust and trading volumes can be restored, but only partially. Bitfinex was once the largest crypto exchange. But after hacking and the emergence of a major competitor in the form of Binance, this platform has long been not even in the top 3 in global leaders. FTX may indeed be back in the game, but it is unlikely to regain its former credibility. New team of exchange will first of all have to pay debts to users. And prove that it does not use the same scam methods as the old team.

Launch of a new cryptocurrency, attached to Australian dollar exchange rate on Ethereum blockchain, scheduled for mid-2023. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

National Australia Bank (NAB), one of four major Australian banks, has created an AUDN stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain. It will be attached to the rate of Australian dollar (AUD), according to Australian Financial Review. Banks plan to launch this coin in mid-2023.

The goal of creating AUDN is to allow bank customers to make real-time blockchain-based settlements in Australian dollars, the NAB said. AUDN can also be used for a number of other purposes, including carbon credit trading and repo transactions.

NAB also intends to use AUDN for low-cost international transfers. According to the bank, the technology will avoid using the SWIFT system. And reduce dependence on complex and costly relationships with correspondent banks when sending money abroad.

For at least three months AUDN will not be available to customers. Because while the bank under the supervision of regulators is conducting internal testing. Including transfers between subsidiaries and branches.

AUDN is not the first stablecoin to be pegged to the Australian dollar. 9 months earlier, Australia-New Zealand banking group ANZ Bank issued the A$DC (“A dollar DC”) coin. Also Novatti payment system created the AUDD stablecoin on Stellar blockchain. And Ettle has launched AUDE token on Ethereum and Algorand.

There are also stablecoins linked to Australian dollar exchange rates such as AUDT, XAUD, AUDRamp and TrueAUD. Volumes of these cryptocurrencies are minimal.

Last month, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said that regulating stable coins should be a priority and should be treated the same as bank deposits. Our experts note that Australia is also actively developing legislation and introducing technology for other digital assets. For example, in the middle of last year, Australian Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate proposed accepting cryptocurrency in payment of municipal taxes.

BitMining claims that the presented Litecoin and Dogecoin mining device will be more profitable than its predecessors. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

Shares of BitMining (BTCM) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) rose 106% – from $2.11 to $4.36 per share. After the company announced the release of new LD3 mining devices on Twitter on Jan. 10.

On January 17, BitMining equipment manufacturer announced in its blog that the production of these devices has begun. They will be used to mine Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) cryptocurrencies. A total of 5 thousand machines were produced. And some of them are intended for internal use, while others are for sale.

The LD3, which has a capacity of 3.5 kW, will be more profitable than its predecessors. At the same time consuming energy more efficiently, BitMining claims. This is the second ASIC miner (mining device) that the company has developed since acquiring hardware maker Bee Computing last year. The first was the Ethereum Classic (ETC) cryptocurrency mining device last August.

Our experts remind us that BitMining business includes cryptocurrency mining. And managing data centers and manufacturing equipment. The company also owns a large mining pool, BTC.com. Which was hacked late last year. As a result of the hacker attack, the attackers managed to withdraw about $700,000 worth of crypto-assets belonging to customers from this pool. They also stole $2.3 million in cryptocurrency from their own project wallets.

Growth in securities of mining companies in January reached the highest monthly level in at least a year. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

The MVIS Global Digital Assets Mining Index, which includes data on the 20 largest miners. Such as Riot Blockchain, Galaxy Digital, Bitfarms and Iris Energy, is up 64 percent since the beginning of January 2023. This month, the indicator posted its biggest increase since its inception in December 2021. In doing so, Bitfarms securities rose more than 140%. And shares of Marathon Digital Holdings were up more than 120%. And Hive Blockchain Technologies more than doubled.

The growth of miners’ shares was caused by the recovery of Bitcoin. The first cryptocurrency since the beginning of January rose in price by 26.5% – from $ 16.6 thousand to $ 21 thousand. And on January 16 Bitcoin rate updated its maximum for 4 months, exceeding the mark of $ 21.4 thousand.

Profits of miners also increased against the growth of the crypto market. Despite the fact that the complexity of Bitcoin mining has grown to record levels. And more and more miners are plugging in, increasing hash rates. Luxor Hashprice Index – showing how much income a Bitcoin miner can expect. With a certain amount of hashrate – up 21% this year.

However, our experts note that it is unknown how long the growth of mining companies’ quotes will last. Cryptocurrency mining companies faced financial difficulties in 2022 and were forced to sell the mined cryptocurrency. As well as to return the equipment, reduce costs and personnel.

Tier 2 blockchain project Shiba Inu will help create a new decentralized metaverse and gaming ecosystem

Developers of Shiba Inu token announced preparations for launching a test network called Shibarium. The second-tier blockchain will run on top of the first-tier Ethereum network. It is designed to provide scalability, faster transactions, lower fees and more opportunities for developers in the Shiba Inu ecosystem.

Cryptocurrency Shiba Inu was created 2.5 years ago. The Ethereum blockchain token is named after Shiba Inu dogs. The website of the project calls this token “”Dogecoin Killer””. And it says that when it was created, its main goal was to surpass the total capitalization of Elon Musk’s favorite coin (Dogecoin). At the same time without crossing the price point of $0.01 per token.

The developers claim that the project has now left the category of “meme” tokens and turned into a popular and actively growing ecosystem. At the same time, in terms of market capitalization, the token is in 16th place with an indicator of $6.1 billion. Dogecoin is now in 9th place, its capitalization is almost $11.6 billion.

Shibarium

Shiba Inu team noted in its message that some members of the cryptocurrency community see Shibarium as a tool to “inflate” token prices. But that is not and never has been the goal of the project. According to them, the new blockchain will help reduce the load on the underlying network. It will also improve the user experience in metaverse and gaming applications.

The combination of web3 and Shibarium Level 2 blockchain technologies can create a new decentralized Metaverse. As well as a gaming ecosystem in which players will interact in a decentralized way. And make transactions, as well as own, buy and sell digital assets.

Tier 2 networks are created to extend the capabilities of basic Tier 1 blockchains. The developers of Shiba Inu state that Shibarium will be able to serve multiple layers of the blockchain. The announcement also says that the new network will reduce the transactional burden on these parts of the ecosystem.

Shibarium will use SHIB, Leash and Bone tokens. Transactions on the network will be paid for using Bone, a Shiba DAO management token. It will also pay members who support the network and validators. Twenty million Bone tokens ($27 million) have been set aside for these payments.

A test network will be launched first. The developers don’t give an exact date, but they write of a “soon” launch. The main network will launch later, its launch will allow the team to integrate the decentralized crypto exchange ShibaSwap into Shibarium.

The developers also expect commissions on the new network to be lower than the current fees on the main Ethereum network. Nevertheless, our experts note that the team prefers to wait for results of analysis in a test network Shibarium. In order to make sure the data is accurate before declaring it definitively.

Cybercriminals set up several call centers. And scammed numerous users in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, and Canada out of at least tens of millions of euros

European security services liquidated a network of cryptocurrency scammers operating in Bulgaria, Cyprus and Serbia. Сybercriminals created a network of call centers. Which were used to defraud numerous customers in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Australia and Canada of at least tens of millions of euros.

Scammers attracted potential clients online. And often contacted them by phone to “”scam” them out of small investments. After earning an initial profit, his victims invested large sums, which they subsequently lost.

How many victims were identified is almost certainly just the tip of the iceberg. During the investigation of an organized criminal group. Which operated the scam call center scheme, large volumes of financial transactions were uncovered. The call centers were managed from Serbia. And technological infrastructure in Bulgaria was used to run the scheme. Cyprus was allegedly a base for laundering illicit funds.

Investigations into online scams were launched in Germany in 2021. With the support of Europol, coordinated action by law enforcement agencies in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany and Serbia led to searches in 22 locations. Intelligence agencies have already arrested 14 people in Serbia and another in Germany.

A total of more than 250 people were interviewed. And then more than 150 computers were confiscated from cybercriminals. As well as various electronic equipment and data backups. Including three cars, two luxury apartments, $1 million in cryptocurrencies and €50,000 in cash.

Our experts note that last November, in the largest scam operation in British history. Scotland Yard led the operation, more than 100 people suspected of telephone scams were arrested. British police were helped to identify the culprits by an analysis of bitcoin transactions.

NFT collection from Warner Bros. Discover was sold on the first day of trading for more than half a million dollars. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

The NFT collection, collectively titled Game of Thrones: Build Your Realm, was based on the Game of Thrones series. It was sold out on the Nifty Marketplace within the first seven hours of the start of trading. The tokens, presented by media giant Warner Bros. Discover, went on sale the evening of Jan. 10 for $150 each.

Each NFT is a “box” with an avatar of a character from the series. And which can be used in virtual world created based on the work. Also, the NFT includes additional attributes for “boosting” heroes. After purchase, the “box” can be opened or left unopened to save, trade or sell it intact.

During presale, 3.45k NFTs became available with a limit of one token per Nifty account. Then another 1,500 NFTs went on public sale a few hours later, with a limit of two additional items per account. Fifty NFT were retained by project authors for further events, free giveaways, and other promotional purposes.

The total amount of sales of NFT from this collection from the beginning of trading was $564 thousand according to the analytical platform CryptoSlam. Only two tokens were resold more expensive than the original price: for $200 and for $176. The current minimum token price (floor price) is 0.061 ETH.

CoinMarketCap chose winners and sent them tokens. As a result, they only made it to a few wallets and were sold, collapsing prices for those projects. Crypto-Upvotes expert review.

Cryptoprojects claim that advertising campaigns from CoinMarketCap (CMC) were scamming and caused their token prices to fall. The developers accuse CMC of foul play in promoting their airdrops. And they claim that cryptocurrencies ended up in only a few wallets, indicating that the system could be manipulated.

CoinMarketCar is one of the largest aggregators of cryptocurrency market data, launched in 2013. This service collects information from most trading venues, tracking key metrics of tokens and crypto exchanges. In 2020, Binance bought this platform.

Blockchain project SaTT reported that a promotional campaign on SMS was paid for in December 2022. It ended with 84% of the issued tokens reaching just 21 wallets. As part of this promotion, 25,000 winning addresses were to receive 4,000 SATT each.

SaTT said that shortly after Airdrop, 20,900 addresses “automatically transferred tokens to 21 wallets.” Which sold those tokens a few days later, generating about $142k. As a result of this sale, the SATT price fell 70% in 10 days – from the end of Airdrop on December 1 until those wallets sold their tokens on December 10.

Other projects also faced a problem with Airdrops on CoinMarketCap

The TokenBot project faced a similar problem. Its founder Shaun Newsum said that he also held an airdrop on CMC. According to him, the platform identified 30,000 winners of the airdrop. TokenBot sent out its tokens to a batch of 4,000 winners to begin with. And about 3,300 of them ended up sending funds to a single wallet. Newsum said TokenBot lost about $20k as a result of the incident.

“Obviously, some person figured out how to play on CoinMarketCap. <…> If we had sent a big batch, this whole airdrop would have been a complete disaster,” said the head of TokenBot.

However, Newsum said he had received an apology from CMC. And he was told that the company was investigating the situation and would return with an updated list of project winners.

The SaTT project team claims to have uncovered 18 other token and NFT eirdrop projects totaling $6.6 million, which have been held at CMC since July 2022, and were also allegedly “infected with scams.” These included projects such as TopGoal, OwlDAO and AgeofGods. SaTT suggested that either hackers had created multiple fake accounts on CMC, or that these were internal actions of this platform.

Explanations from CoinMarketCap

A CMC official responded to the allegations by saying that at least four of the projects named by SaTT had not yet distributed awards. And therefore, it is “impossible” that they have encountered “malicious” activity. He also noted that other than SaTT, AgeOfGods and TokenBot, no one else had complained about such problems.

However, a CMC official admits that there is a bot problem. According to him, the platform team is constantly working to improve its systems to limit this problem. To prevent bots from participating, CMC uses CAPTCHA verification and email verification. It also plans to integrate two-factor authentication.