'Halving' arrives for bitcoin miners

04/20/24 11:40 AM

The bitcoin market on Friday engineered the "halving" of the reward for operating the cryptocurrency, a much-anticipated step designed to limit production and boost the digital money."The 4th #Bitcoin halving is complete!," announced cryptocurrency exchange Binance on X, the former Twitter."The countdown has been reset -- see you in 2028."Bitcoin is created as a reward when computers solve complex puzzles to decide which miner wins the privilege to validate the block -- and receive the reward in bitcoins.However, since the digital currency's launch in 2009, the reward has been halved for every 210,000 blocks in a process called halving.With one block validated roughly every ten minutes, this critical industry event occurs just under every four years.The reward, which was fixed since May 2020 at 6.25 bitcoins per new block, has now fallen to 3.125 bitcoins.Bitcoin was conceived in 2008 by a person or group writing under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.The halving process slows the rate at which new bitcoins are created, thereby restricting supply.The reward amount has been trimmed over time, via halving, to implement Nakamoto's overall global limit of 21 million bitcoins.But this ceiling is due to be reached by 2040.- Controlling supply -"The primary purpose of halving is to control bitcoin's supply," City Index analyst Matthew Weller said in a research note ahead of the event."By slowing the rate at which new bitcoins are created, halving helps to maintain scarcity and potentially increase the cryptocurrency's value, assuming demand remains steady or increases," he added.The price of bitcoin has blazed a record-breaking trail on the prospect of reduced supplies, as well as big moves toward greater trading accessibility.Bitcoin has rocketed by 50 percent in value since the start of the year, climaxing last month at a record $73,797. Prices have fallen in recent days."This is the first time that bitcoin beat the previous historical record before the halving has even taken place," said eToro analyst Simon Peters, noting there had been a pullback in recent days.Commercial bitcoin mining companies operate thousands of computers in huge hangers or warehouses, consuming large amounts of electricity at a vast cost.Halving therefore represents a major survival test for such companies because it slashes their main income source.- Reduced margins -Faced with the prospect of reduced margins, bitcoin players have invested heavily in cutting-edge new computers, in tandem with an efficiency drive which in particular seeks to slash energy costs.In addition, some mining companies will have to "turn off some of their machines to cut costs, which equates to fewer bitcoins being created," said Manuel Valente, founder of cryptoasset investment group Coinhouse."And if the price of bitcoin goes down, their profitability decreases" further, he told AFP.Halving therefore exposes the weakest bitcoin mining firms, and could potentially spark a fresh wave of sector consolidation in a survival of the fittest, commentators say.At around 0030 GMT, after the halving had taken place, the price of bitcoin was up 0.7 percent at $63,467.46.

'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines

04/24/24 11:25 AM

Extreme heat scorched the Philippines on Wednesday, forcing thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes and prompting warnings for people to limit the amount of time spent outdoors.The months of March, April and May are typically the hottest and driest in the archipelago nation, but conditions this year have been exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon."It's so hot you can't breathe," said Erlin Tumaron, 60, who works at a seaside resort in Cavite province, south of Manila, where the heat index reached 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday."It's surprising our pools are still empty. You would expect people to come and take a swim, but it seems they're reluctant to leave their homes because of the heat."The heat index was expected to reach the "danger" level of 42C or higher in at least 30 cities and municipalities on Wednesday, the state weather forecaster said.The heat index measures what a temperature feels like, taking into account humidity.The Department of Education, which oversees more than 47,600 schools, said nearly 6,700 schools suspended in-person classes on Wednesday.There was a 50 percent chance of the heat intensifying in the coming days, said Ana Solis, chief climatologist at the state weather forecaster."We need to limit the time we spend outdoors, drink plenty of water, bring umbrellas and hats when going outdoors," Solis told AFP.Solis said El Nino was the reason for the "extreme heat" affecting swaths of the country.Around half the country's provinces are officially in drought.- 'It's really hot here' -The northern municipality of Aparri endured a heat index of 48C on Tuesday, the highest in the country, and was expected to hit 45C on Wednesday.The actual maximum air temperature was 36.4C (97.5F) on Tuesday, with 35C forecast for Wednesday."It's really hot here," Eric Vista of the municipal disaster agency told AFP.Vista said a shower of rain on Tuesday night offered some temporary relief but it was "back to being super hot" on Wednesday.Sweltering temperatures in the capital Manila forced more than 400 schools to switch to remote learning. The heat index reached 45C on Tuesday and was expected to hit 44C on Wednesday.Tuesday's actual high in the city was 37.1C.In drought-stricken Occidental Mindoro province, government employee Mary Ann Gener said people working indoors where there was air conditioning were fine."But it's terrible for those outside," she said."You get a headache immediately after you go out. You really need to hydrate."In Dagupan city, north of Manila, university employee Edz Alteros said she and her colleagues no longer went out for lunch because of the heat.The heat index there reached 47C on Tuesday."We get somebody to buy food and we eat inside the office," Alteros, 27, said."The air conditioning is set at 14-18C during the hottest part of the day, but we ease up at other times to prevent the aircon breaking down."Global temperatures hit record highs last year, and the United Nation's weather and climate agency said Tuesday that Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace.The Philippines ranks among the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

'This guy would be in jail already': German reporter reveals how people abroad see Trump

04/24/24 10:58 PM

Former President Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial is being viewed in a totally different way abroad, German Der Spiegel reporter Marc Pitzke told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday.This comes as Trump is set to receive a ruling on whether he violated the gag order in the case, which charges him with business fraud in connection with his cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.When it comes to Germany's relationship with the U.S., Pitzke said, "It's always this back and forth. And when Trump came into office, it sort of crystallized that. And it also — this balance got totally out of whack. He brought up the ugly — you talk about this on this show all the time. And it's, you know, it's really people after 2020, people said okay, we need a break. It's like you're in a dysfunctional relationship. You can't stop. You don't know how to get out, but you suffer. And it was the same way with Germany. We've been tied to you guys since World War II. You liberated us, but we resent you for it. There are all these different layers. And then Trump comes in. He personifies everything for us. So it's been — We're all tired."ALSO READ: ‘Fraudulent’: Trump tormentor Lincoln Project loses big money in cybertheft scheme"Tell me what, for you, has jumped out?" asked Wallace. "Because as you said, we've been living with this for so long now. What, in terms of what you heard so far, surprised you?""Nothing really surprises me anymore about him," said Pitzke. "I was there when he came down that escalator. So every time there is like boiling frogs. Every time there is another thing happening, oh, okay, okay. What really surprises me now how the prosecution, how they put everything together. Like the opening statements were very tight, very short, but it was a narrative that you could follow. And for the first time we've talked about this for months. And since the arraignment, since the indictment a year ago, now we can really see this coming to life through people.""Like, nobody knows David Pecker in Germany," he added. "But if you tell our readers that this is the guy who knows the secrets, this is the guy with the vault, the safe, then they — it's just amazing the depth of the alleged depravity behind all this. Like listening to David Pecker talk about this. We knew about 'catch and kill' and how it worked. We read Ronan Farrow and all that. But to really see how these stories were launched by Michael Cohen and by Trump, it's shocking. Nothing like this could ever happen in Germany, I hope. This guy would be in jail already in Germany."Watch the video below or at the link. - YouTube www.youtube.com