The economic planning agency has made available telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to receive complaints about possible illegal mining sites. The local government says that the work is based on “public supervision” to find the mining equipment.

The authorities of the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia called on its inhabitants to denounce the illegal mining of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They want to reduce the consumption of energy by 3% this year, so they need to locate those who operate cryptocurrency mining equipment.

Neighbors can report possible illegal mining sites to the telephone numbers and e-mail addresses that the economic planning agency has made available. In recent days, local media reported that the work is based on “public supervision”, that is, social control to minimize the activity.

The agency said that it seeks to detect four potential targets: mining companies, miners who hide as companies pretending to be data centers, premise owners who keep mining equipment activated, and those who use electricity supply fraudulently.

China is interested in neutralizing the polluting emissions of Bitcoin miners, so the decision of the local authorities is very pertinent. “The goal is to maximize the role of public supervision,” according to a notice recently released in the region.

The residents received the notification two days after China banned the country’s institutions and means of payments from operating with cryptocurrencies. The government argues that this type of asset is speculative due to its anonymity, which would threaten “people’s property and the economic order.”

Bitcoin Mining Primarily Uses Renewable Energy Sources

According to a newly formed body of opinion, the Bitcoin network consumes large amounts of energy. However, scientific studies indicate that miners primarily use renewable energy sources. Almost 80% of the equipment uses hydroelectric energy instead of other methods such as coal combustion.

In February 2021, ARK Investment Management LLC (ARK) analyst Yassine Elmandjra issued statements on Bitcoin mining. She explained that the “impact of this activity is clearly positive for the environment”, in contrast to what most people think.

China currently accounts for most of the pioneering cryptocurrency’s processing power with 65% of the total hash rate. The Asian country has held a negative position on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and has vetoed them as a means of payment. However, it has allowed the development of the cryptocurrency mining industry, which it now aims to restrict.

Elon Musk’s Alleged Reasons for Criticizing Bitcoin

In recent weeks, the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, negatively criticized Bitcoin, claiming that its mining harms the environment. The community expressed its anger over the effects of his comments on the cryptocurrency market. They even recommended that he do more research on the power sources that most Bitcoin miners use.

The Bitcoin Treasuries list currently includes MicroStrategy, Tesla, and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust as the main institutional investors betting on Bitcoin. Ironically, the electric car company owns a total of 43,200 BTC, equivalent to about USD 1,600 thousand, especially after Musk’s comments.

By Alexander Salazar

Interest in Bitcoin has not decreased but rather continues to grow despite the market crash. Whales thank Elon Musk as his comments allow them to accumulate more Bitcoin.

Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a week of intense decline, which took it to a low of USD 30,200, but now shows a slight recovery. Although its value remains 41% below its all-time high, analysts see optimistic elements in the on-chain data. Renowned expert Willy Woo believes that the bullish market is still intact.

Woo said that the increasing number of entities on the network is a relevant indicator of where Bitcoin’s price is heading. He perceives this metric as a sign that the value of the cryptocurrency will recover given that more people are actively buying.

The analyst noted in a Glassnode chart that the number of users grows regardless of whether Bitcoin’s price goes up or down. The data provider uses a Bitcoin entity net growth indicator. Several attributes allow it to determine whether a single address is linked to an entity or whether multiple addresses are related to a single entity.

“The number of Bitcoin users has doubled approximately every year since its inception twelve years ago. Therefore, the 2021 peak may end at much higher levels than the 2017 peak. Taking this trend into account, we are just warming up,” according to Willy Woo.

Nobody Knows Where the Panic that Spread on the Bitcoin Network Is Going

More entities have bought more Bitcoin but the recent market crash has also caused thousands of addresses to be left empty. Analyst Lex Moskovski pays special attention to a group of addresses that had bought Bitcoin for the first time. They dumped their funds immediately after its price began to decline.

These “weak hands,” along with news that China launched tighter controls on Bitcoin, contributed to the price of the pioneering cryptocurrency collapsing. However, long-time holders continued to accumulate Bitcoin in the same address, regardless of the amount that they own.

According to analyst Dilution-proof, when panic seized weak hands, older “strong hands” acquired the funds that these “young” addresses dumped. The former refuse to “exchange their digital gold for cash or another asset (such as gold or real estate),” he added.

Whales Thank Elon Musk for His Negative Comments on Bitcoin

“Many Bitcoin whales have been born during the crash. Entities with a lot of money seem to have bought during this event,” Dilution-proof noted in a tweet with the hashtag “#Thank you Elon”.

The analyst shared a chart indicating that whales with 10,000 BTC on their balance sheet bought during the crash. Bitcoin evangelist Anthony Pompliano also provided data to support this analysis. He said that whales bought 122,588 BTC, equivalent to around USD 3.7 billion when the price dropped to USD 30,000.

The addresses with the most Bitcoin recently received another 39.6 BTC, equivalent to USD 347,000, according to Dilution-proof. However, it will still be necessary to determine whether the decline in hash rate will affect Bitcoin’s price, which has dropped by around 20%.

By Alexander Salazar

The recent market crash demonstrates the unpredictability and volatility of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether. Market sentiment has taken a lot of damage, so investors could avoid the cryptocurrency market for some time.

The cryptocurrency market has lost more than USD 1 trillion in the last seven days. At the time of writing this article, the market is recovering to almost USD 2 trillion.

However, a very severe sell-off shakes the market and leads to speculation about whether the drop was enough to stop the bullish market. Some consider that this is just a necessary cleansing or correction. Furthermore, they predict that Bitcoin will be worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars per unit this year.

China Could Have Contributed to the Massive Market Crash

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin, among others, are highly speculative assets. Their supporters love anonymity and, most of all, like to speculate on future price action. They wonder whether their price will continue to fall or rise to the high predictions of analysts.

It is only a matter of time before having an answer to those questions, but it is not clear yet. The recent events in the cryptocurrency market demonstrate the unpredictability and volatility that characterize Bitcoin and Ether.

Those who have entered this market have gotten used to easy profits and a seemingly endless bullish trend. That situation contributed to an environment leading the whales to cause massive shaking. Meanwhile, speculators believe that China has coordinated an effort to harm Bitcoin.

An anonymous user said that Bitcoin would crash to USD 30,000 and even indicated where to set limit orders. The cryptocurrency reached that goal and rallied to more than USD 40,000. However, some people predict that it will reach USD 25,000, so there could be more drops.

A Technical Analysis Indicates that a Correction Should Have Occurred Earlier

Since the price of Bitcoin rose from USD 4,000 to more than USD 64,000 in just one year, there needed to be a correction. Normally, no asset moves up in a straight line but Bitcoin and Ethereum came close to doing so.

The bullish trend had turned parabolic but the parabola broke, leading to a major collapse. The focus is now on whether the bullish market has ended and a bearish market will start, or if it was just a shake-up before new highs.

Market sentiment has taken the most damage, so the trend is now in the hands of whales and institutions. Given that retail trade was affected, investors could avoid the cryptocurrency market for some time. Bitcoin and other altcoins could become more attractive at lower prices, thus stoking the bullish trend.

According to data from CoinGecko, the price of Bitcoin is almost 50% below the all-time high of USD 64,000. However, analysts believe that the bullish cycle has not ended despite the current collapse that the market is suffering. Renowned expert Willy Woo warned that Bitcoin’s recovery will not be quick and could happen within several months.

By Alexander Salazar