Considerable Increase in Bitcoin’s Share of PoW Mining Rewards

Alexander Salazar
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Considerable Increase in Bitcoin’s Share of PoW Mining Rewards

Bitcoin still maintains a significant share of PoW mining rewards, at a level that exceeds 80%.

The rewards received by Bitcoin miners constitute an important part of the salaries paid through the main proof-of-work (PoW) chains. This information was provided by Yassinue Elmandjra, a cryptocurrency analyst from ARK Invest.

For instance, last January 9th, Bitcoin miners were paid more than USD 15 million in this cryptocurrency as an incentive to mine blocks and secure the network.

Meanwhile, the total rewards paid through Ethereum (ETH) and other major PoW cryptocurrencies including Zcash (ZEC), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV (BSV) were only a little more than 18 million dollars.

Essentially, Bitcoin miners were responsible for almost 83% of the total mining rewards paid through the main PoW blockchains.

Since mid-2017, the wage share of Bitcoin miners has increased by 250%, whilst that of Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has decreased significantly.

Definition of PoW

The proof of work is a consensus algorithm for blockchain networks where miners find blocks by solving cryptographically difficult puzzles.

This contrasts with the proof of stake (PoS), where the validators enclose the respective cryptocurrency to claim their participation in the ecosystem.

Bitcoin as the Strongest Cryptocurrency

The fact that Bitcoin miners are receiving significantly higher salaries than their counterparts is not surprising. That occurs because it is the strongest cryptocurrency driven by the PoW. It also has the greatest network effect and the longest history, according to Muneeb Ali, CEO of Blockstack PBC.

Additionally, the security of the Bitcoin network, represented by its hash rate, has increased considerably over the years. The above has allowed building trust in the blockchain and has established a loop of positive security feedback and network effect.

At the time of writing this article, the Bitcoin hash rate is approximately 111,000,000 TH/s (or 111 EH/s).

Future Possibilities

Bitcoin’s participation in PoW mining could grow further in the future as Ether and other blockchains begin to switch to PoS, which is a less intensive consensus mechanism regarding energy.

Ether is expected to complete the transition from PoW to PoS in 2022. Steve Tsou, global CEO of RRMine predicts that its network will be better once ETH 2.0 (post-transition) shows its true value in the global market.

Another factor that could affect miners’ income and influence the participation of Bitcoin in PoW mining is the halving that is expected this 2020.

Rewards received for each block extracted in the Bitcoin blockchain will be reduced from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC in May. Mining costs will double after the halving, which could displace weak miners, thus causing changes between supply and demand.

Tsou said that miners’ revenues will increase if the halving creates a supply deficit, pushing prices above mining costs. This could also boost Bitcoin’s participation in PoW mining even more since the increase in profitability could attract miners from other chains.

The executive considers that the most important thing is that miners control the cost, which fully determines whether they can benefit from it or not.

By Alexander Salazar

Uruguay Recycling Project Will Give Rewards in Virtual Currencies without Using Blockchain

Maria Rodríguez
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Uruguay Recycling Project Will Give Rewards in Virtual Currencies without Using Blockchain

To date, it is known that 15 stores in that country accept virtual currencies as a form of payment for their products and services

Recently, it was known that a recycling project was activated in Uruguay. The plan seeks to reward people with virtual currency. According to the information, the project called Plasticoin will manage a whole system for the exchange of plastic for a virtual currency that will have the same name as the project. In this way, collection centers will be created where people will deliver recycled plastic and then they will be rewarded instantly.

The project will be available, so far, only in the town of Piriápolis. People residing in the sector will be able to assist with the recycled plastic at the different collection centers and exchange the recycled material for “Plasticoins”. This virtual currency can be used in the different shops that are affiliated with the project.

According to the central data of the project, the initiative is supported by the national government through the National Development Agency of Uruguay (ANDE).

The system will classify the plastic that will be received in the different collection centers, thus dividing the received plastic materials into three categories, as well as their reward.

In this way, the first category corresponds to the plastic that is commonly found in homes, giving a reward of 100 Plasticoins per kilogram received. The second one will be for waste found on the beaches, thus rewarding 200 Plasticoins per Kilo. The third category will be dedicated to microplastics that can be collected in spas, this being the best paid with a total of 400 plasticoins per kilogram recycled.

According to the project’s website, more than 15 stores have added virtual currencies as a form of payment for their products and services; including, competitions and special prices for the use of virtual currencies. Until now, barbers, food stores and a yoga school are affiliated.

Virtual Currency with Digital Backup

The project website noted that the reward is a virtual currency that contains a digital backup so it should not be considered as a cryptocurrency. In this way, Plasticoin would be a centralized currency that is not supported under any blockchain platform.

Although certain blockchain tools and solutions are necessary for the issuance of the currency and to specify the operations, indicated on the Plasticoin website itself, project representatives clarified to a news site that the initiative is intended for the use of blockchain as help to make the movements. However, currently, they do not have this system in the project, so it is a currency with support.

It is not the first time that such initiatives have been carried out that seek to reward people for actions that help preserve the environment.

In Argentina, two places that use a blockchain tool that offers cryptocurrencies to those who use their platform to combat climate change. Although these initiatives do use cryptocurrencies, they are part of the same central idea of ​​reward for a digital good.

By María Rodríguez

Total Blockchain Investments in China Felt 40 % in 2019

Maria Rodríguez
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Total Blockchain Investments in China Felt 40 % in 2019

This 2020, the country would continue developing blockchain projects as well as its digital currency, the yuan.

China has been one of the countries that have been very interested in using and studying blockchain technology. However, the levels of investments in this area dropped by 40% in 2019 compared to those of 2018.

Chinese blockchain spending in areas of investment and financing deals has dropped, according to a new study by state-run sources.

During 2019, China had 245 investment and financing deals, which is nearly 60 % less than in 2018.

The joint study was conducted by China’s government-run financial information and media firm, Xinhua, and by financial data platform Rhino Data. The results were posted on the official website of Xinhua. There, it is explained that the total amount spent in blockchain investment deals has accounted for 24.4 billion Chinese yuan (US$ 3.6 billion). This co-authored report specifies that the figure dropped 40.8 % in 2019, compared to that of 2018.

In this way, these deals purportedly amounted to a sum of $3.5 billion in capital invested, which is purportedly more than 50% lower than the invested sum during 2018, according to a Decrypt Media translation.

The deals were purportedly focused on three main sectors in the blockchain space: Blockchain media and industry information, Digital asset exchanges (which can operate outside of China but be developed within the country), and Decentralized finance (DeFi).

Cryptocurrency giant Binance is an example of this trend. This year Binance made a large deal with Chinese blockchain information.

China and Blockchain

In later October 2019, Xi Jinping, President of China, said it was a good idea for the Asian country to use and boost blockchain technology. He said blockchain is a “core technology” to the nation’s future success that worked in catalyzing the nation’s growing love for the technology.

Important companies and organizations such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), TikTok operator ByteDance, and Baidu have launched initiatives that involve blockchain technology.

Both the value and number of deals have significantly increased since 2017, according to the report. But the year of 2018 remains the peak in terms of blockchain investment spending for China so far, with over 600 deals taking place during all the year, while 2017 accounted for just 168 deals, according to the data.

In the study, Xinhua and Rhino Data found that early-stage investments like Series A funding rounds accounted for 43.3% in 2019, whilst the proportion of strategic investment and mergers and acquisitions in the second half of 2019 increased significantly.

Besides, 292 institutions have participated in those investments, with Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou attracting the biggest blockchain projects so China continues working in blockchain projects although the country does not accept transactions with cryptocurrencies.

In late 2019, Xinhua cited a study conducted by the American market intelligence firm IDC. The study predicted that the country’s spending on blockchain technology will exceed $2 billion in 2023.

Alongside funding blockchain initiatives, the Chinese government is also working in a government-backed digital currency, the digital yuan. In this way, the People’s Bank of China researched the CBDC for five years before putting forward its first pilot of the currency in December 2019.

This 2020 could be the year for launching this digital asset that will be another form of payment in the Asian country.

By María Rodríguez

The Arab Emirates Save Millions of Dollars Per Year Using blockchain Technology

Maria Rodríguez
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The Arab Emirates Save Millions of Dollars Per Year Using blockchain Technology

Using EAU blockchain technology could save more than USD$ 3 billion in the future, according to the report.

Over the years, blockchain technology has become an increasingly reliable technology for performing certain administration tasks, records, among others.

The application of the innovative blockchain technology is not only improving private companies and public institutions but also helps them reduce costs and invest less money in necessary processes. This is one of the cases in which blockchain technology saves millions of dollars in costs to the United Arab Emirates.

In a more precise context, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has not achieved extensive development of blockchain applications for its uses, as countries such as China have explored.

However, it is not known that this country turns out to be one of the countries that have used and empowered technology the most. The UAE is not a great researcher or creator of blockchain-based solutions, but it does rely on its use and it is for this reason that it hires startup services for the implementation in its territory.

One of the main reasons for this country to be among the innovative economies in the commercial competition that it can have with cities like New York. It is for this reason that the luxurious city of Dubai seeks to lead this sector in technological terms in the Middle East, and it also implements blockchain technology to be at the global technological forefront and to reduce, as an effect of the crypto industry, investment costs.

The Impact of Blockchain in the United Arab Emirates

A few days ago, a special report was published, detailing the importance of blockchain technology in the UAE economy. The report was developed by the country’s organizations, such as the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution UAE, and the Dubai Future Foundation, in conjunction with the World Economic Forum.

The whole group of organizations allied to carry out surveys and studies within the territory resulted in the report known as: “Inclusive Deployment of Blockchain: Case Studies and Learnings from the United Arab Emirates”.

According to their studies, it was possible to determine that of the 100 organizations that were surveyed, 60% of them use blockchain technology. The entities constitute between governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Besides, 80% of the entities surveyed concluded that identification in the first instance for the use of blockchain-based applications could be a determining factor in the development of their processes. It also separated by nature the effect that this technology can have on institutions: private and public.

Large organizations mentioned that implementing blockchain technology was determined by levels of scope, responsibilities and specific tasks since they stressed that the lack of regulatory laws could be a factor of great concern.

In another sense, it was commented that among the most complex and critical areas could be sectors such as education and public entities. All of this since the implementation of blockchain technology could delay and cause difficult challenges to overcome.

The report manages to find the main point of interest in the country. It determined that implementing blockchain technology in the state sector could generate a huge decrease in the paperwork used in political administration. According to his data, the use of 398 million printed documents and more than 77 million hours of work per year would be eliminated.

This would help the UAE reduce bureaucracy and solve many administrative problems. According to the report, if all these corrective measures are implemented, the state could save more than 3 billion dollars in the future.

By María Rodríguez

Shipping Companies and Airlines Would Refuse to Pay with Petro

Willmen Blanco
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Shipping Companies and Airlines Would Refuse to Pay with Petro

The companies would stop providing their services after the presidential decree. The government’s measure involves paying with Petro (PTR) for using airports or harbors and buying gasoline for planes.

The measures taken by Nicolás Maduro’s government to start charging in Petro for State services could lead shipping lines and airlines to stop providing their services at national harbors and airports. Cipriana Ramos, former president of the “Consecomercio” business union, considers that the companies have no reason to submit to a method of payment in the so-called cryptocurrency of the Venezuelan government.

According to Ramos, the companies in this field do not want to use Petro as a form of payment mainly because they could be sanctioned by the United States through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of Treasury. The decision could be related to Donald Trump’s government, which issued in March 2018 an executive order forbidding Americans from trading with cryptocurrencies of the Venezuelan government.

Ramos stated that, for a customs and harbor community like that of Vargas State, the issue of paying for the services of  INEA (National Institute of Aquatic Spaces) and Bolivariana de Puertos (Bolivarian Harbors) is very striking, since that is part of international trade.

The businesswoman thinks that the cargoes could remain in a service harbor so that they are then transferred to Venezuela by a ship that is not subject to sanctions or that at least does not fear sanctions.

The former leader believes that the situation can become complicated for international airlines that cover routes to and from Venezuela since the gasoline to supply the aircraft must also be paid in petro. Regarding this aspect, she said that those airlines that need to refuel in Venezuela will stop doing so, will continue paying in US dollars or will do it with the bolivar, but they will not use Petro to buy fuel.

For the lawyer, the imposition of this payment method on international entities would not be well seen, since it is something to be used among Venezuelans. The most prominent aspect is that those that agree to comply with these provisions must change their US dollars, euros or other national currencies to buy Petro.

Meeting between Sunacrip and INEA

While the future of shipping companies and international airlines remains uncertain, it was reported that the authorities of INEA and the National Superintendence of Crypto Assets and Related Activities (Sunacrip) held a meeting after the presidential announcement to implement charging for services in Petro.

INEA said that the meeting served to make registrations and start opening wallets in Petro for shipping companies. It should be noted that the assembly was developed to expedite the procedures to start charging for their services to foreign-flagged ships in this Venezuelan crypto asset.

The representatives of the shipping companies expressed their doubts about aspects including how long it takes to reconcile these transactions, how the conversion from bolivars (VES) to petros (PTR) is conducted and everything regarding exchange houses. It was reported that both parties established a work schedule to start registering the companies, aiming to streamline the charging and payment processes.

Sunacrip and the shipping companies met after it was unofficially reported that some Venezuelan oil sales were halted by customers of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) because harbor fees will be charged in petros, which has not been confirmed or denied by the Venezuelan authorities.

By Willmen Blanco

A New Platform in Africa Allows the Donation of Cryptocurrencies to Incentive the Agriculture

Maria Rodríguez
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A New Platform in Africa Allows the Donation of Cryptocurrencies to Incentive the Agriculture

For each DAI donated, the project will plant about 10 trees in strategic areas of Africa.

A new platform could allow donations with crypto assets for a reforestation project in Africa. As it is known until now, the new platform called “rTrees” would enable the procedure by targeting donations through the use and possession of the stablecoin DAI.

The data indicates that this service is being created similar to the Ethereum blockchain. It works through a system of donations that are made through the use of Smart Contracts. This was clarified by Victor Rortvedt, who is a developer of decentralized applications (dApps) for the Ethereum ecosystem, during an interview that was published in local media.

The text of the press release indicates that the protocol uses some liquidity percentages obtained through Compound, this platform calculates the interest rate that will be donated.

“DAI holders who use rTrees will not see a decrease in their financial position, while Trees for Future will receive real financial contributions that will help us accomplish the mission”, rTrees said.

By using this platform, the project called rTrees, from the non-profit organization Trees for the Future will benefit from donations in cryptocurrencies. On the organization’s website, it is also noted that they work focusing on projects such as the “Forest Gardens Program”.

As is well known, the Forest Gardens program focuses mainly on three factors that turn out to be problems for farmers in Africa. In the first place, the self-sustenance of the ecosystem through planting, reducing high levels of poverty by promoting the creation of new jobs for African families and avoiding agricultural or mining practices that adversely affect the major forest areas.

According to the organization’s website, the project currently covers more than six countries in Africa. Among those are Cameroon, Tanzania, Senegal, Guinea, Uganda, and Kenya, thus benefiting more than 3,000 families throughout the region.

Crypto-Donations for the Environment

The use of cryptocurrencies for ecological and environmental purposes has been growing in recent years. Like the use of blockchain platforms that serve as sustenance to achieve new methods of raising money by donations or as foundations to avoid the use of paper by digital means, among other things.

As a clear example of this, in 2014, Rainforest Foundation, another non-profit organization, allowed donations through cryptocurrencies for its ecosystem protection program in the Amazon forests. After the wave of fires occurred in the region in 2019, the foundation managed to give more strength to its cryptocurrency donation program.

Similarly, currently, there are several donation campaigns with cryptocurrencies so that firefighters responsible for fighting fires in Australian forests will be more prepared.

Many of these initiatives arise as ways to increase revenue for charitable purposes; other projects focus on having the necessary investment to combat or reduce pollutant gas emissions.

In this way, cryptocurrencies now are an additional method of raising necessary funds that can boost charitable projects of any kind.

By María Rodríguez

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