Welcome to The Daily Forkast, October 6th, 2021, presented by Angie Lau. For the latest in blockchain & crypto news. On today's show:
00:00 Coming Up
00:41 Crypto mining blamed for Kazakhstan power shortage
02:43 Bitcoin crosses US$50,000 mark
04:14 Upbit accused of listing faulty tokens to earn fees
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First up — Kazakhstan's energy minister is clamping down here, proposing a number of measures to deal with power shortages and pointing the finger at crypto miners. Kazakhstan once that safe haven for miners forced to flee China, now imposing limits on electricity consumption by mining farms that are already in operation, and they're also suspending connection of new farms to the grid. In a government briefing reported by Kazakhstan today, the country's energy minister said the national grid operator KEGOC must have the right to limit or reduce power consumption by mining data centers whenever there is a shortage of electricity. Crypto mining provider Xive told Forkast.News that one of their mining farms in the south of the country has been disconnected for three weeks already and that small and medium miners have been panicking. However, the government has promised to settle the issue and support development of the industry, saying it will build new power plants providing around 3,000 megawatts of gas-generated electricity within the next five years. It also says it's planning to commission new renewable energy capacity.
Back in September, Kazakhstan's president warned over potential power shortages by 2030 and ordered the government to investigate the possibility of developing a nuclear power industry.
In the meantime, Xive says it is considering all options.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin passed the US$50,000 mark for the first time since the September sell-off Tuesday night Asia Time, the world's largest cryptocurrency, has been on a week-long tear, leading a market wide run that has seen double digit growth for many altcoins. However, one curious thing — while Bitcoin's price has been steadily climbing, its dominance has actually fallen. Bitcoin was trading at a little over US$51,500 Wednesday midday Asia time, the second time it's crossed the $50,000 mark since the May sell-off, which saw the entire crypto market tumble. However, while the price has been on a general upward trend since mid-July, its dominance has continued to fall over the same time frame. Ethereum share of market dominance has remained quite stable, hovering between 17 and 19%. One expert told Forkast.News, that a Ethereum has maintained its position due to real-world adoption of decentralized finance protocols using its network and altcoin dominance is rising because of the proliferation of use cases. One of the biggest altcoin winners over the past week, has been leading meme coin DOGE. It was up more than 30 percent early Wednesday. Asia time, however, has lost some ground since.
And finally, today, Korea's largest crypto exchange has been accused of deliberately listing faulty tokens to earn huge commissions. Lawmaker Min Byoung-dug says that Upbit has delisted 145 altcoins. That's almost half the total number of tokens it has ever listed, and that it earned 314 billion Korean won, or around US$263 million worth of transaction fees on those tokens.
Now, Min claims that Upbit induced users to trade these cryptocurrencies, knowing that they lacked substance and would eventually be delisted. Well, we chased for some answers here, and Upbit told Forkast.News that it has a strict review and verification system when listing cryptocurrencies and that any de-listing is for investor protection. It said the delisted tokens were not problematic to begin with, but later failed to meet Upbit's standards. But still, a lot of outstanding questions here, and it's a controversy that remains on the radar for Korean lawmakers.
Meanwhile, it's better news for another of Korea's Big Four exchanges. Korbit has become the second exchange to be registered by the Financial Intelligence Unit in Korea after its compliance was accepted. And the Big Four have shrugged off any concerns over the new regulations. Upbit, Korbit, Coinone, and Bithumb have grown exponentially. In 2021, the amount of cash deposits held between them grew more than 1,300% compared to June last year.
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#Crypto #Blockchain #BlockchainTechnology #DigitalAssets #Cryptocurrency #DeFi #bitcoin #nfts #Kazakhstan #Korea #Koreanexchange #upbit #korbit #energy #ethereum
00:00 Coming Up
00:41 Crypto mining blamed for Kazakhstan power shortage
02:43 Bitcoin crosses US$50,000 mark
04:14 Upbit accused of listing faulty tokens to earn fees
---
First up — Kazakhstan's energy minister is clamping down here, proposing a number of measures to deal with power shortages and pointing the finger at crypto miners. Kazakhstan once that safe haven for miners forced to flee China, now imposing limits on electricity consumption by mining farms that are already in operation, and they're also suspending connection of new farms to the grid. In a government briefing reported by Kazakhstan today, the country's energy minister said the national grid operator KEGOC must have the right to limit or reduce power consumption by mining data centers whenever there is a shortage of electricity. Crypto mining provider Xive told Forkast.News that one of their mining farms in the south of the country has been disconnected for three weeks already and that small and medium miners have been panicking. However, the government has promised to settle the issue and support development of the industry, saying it will build new power plants providing around 3,000 megawatts of gas-generated electricity within the next five years. It also says it's planning to commission new renewable energy capacity.
Back in September, Kazakhstan's president warned over potential power shortages by 2030 and ordered the government to investigate the possibility of developing a nuclear power industry.
In the meantime, Xive says it is considering all options.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin passed the US$50,000 mark for the first time since the September sell-off Tuesday night Asia Time, the world's largest cryptocurrency, has been on a week-long tear, leading a market wide run that has seen double digit growth for many altcoins. However, one curious thing — while Bitcoin's price has been steadily climbing, its dominance has actually fallen. Bitcoin was trading at a little over US$51,500 Wednesday midday Asia time, the second time it's crossed the $50,000 mark since the May sell-off, which saw the entire crypto market tumble. However, while the price has been on a general upward trend since mid-July, its dominance has continued to fall over the same time frame. Ethereum share of market dominance has remained quite stable, hovering between 17 and 19%. One expert told Forkast.News, that a Ethereum has maintained its position due to real-world adoption of decentralized finance protocols using its network and altcoin dominance is rising because of the proliferation of use cases. One of the biggest altcoin winners over the past week, has been leading meme coin DOGE. It was up more than 30 percent early Wednesday. Asia time, however, has lost some ground since.
And finally, today, Korea's largest crypto exchange has been accused of deliberately listing faulty tokens to earn huge commissions. Lawmaker Min Byoung-dug says that Upbit has delisted 145 altcoins. That's almost half the total number of tokens it has ever listed, and that it earned 314 billion Korean won, or around US$263 million worth of transaction fees on those tokens.
Now, Min claims that Upbit induced users to trade these cryptocurrencies, knowing that they lacked substance and would eventually be delisted. Well, we chased for some answers here, and Upbit told Forkast.News that it has a strict review and verification system when listing cryptocurrencies and that any de-listing is for investor protection. It said the delisted tokens were not problematic to begin with, but later failed to meet Upbit's standards. But still, a lot of outstanding questions here, and it's a controversy that remains on the radar for Korean lawmakers.
Meanwhile, it's better news for another of Korea's Big Four exchanges. Korbit has become the second exchange to be registered by the Financial Intelligence Unit in Korea after its compliance was accepted. And the Big Four have shrugged off any concerns over the new regulations. Upbit, Korbit, Coinone, and Bithumb have grown exponentially. In 2021, the amount of cash deposits held between them grew more than 1,300% compared to June last year.
---
#Crypto #Blockchain #BlockchainTechnology #DigitalAssets #Cryptocurrency #DeFi #bitcoin #nfts #Kazakhstan #Korea #Koreanexchange #upbit #korbit #energy #ethereum
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Francisco Gimeno - BC Analyst Amazing what Forkast can explain in very few minutes. Energetic woes from Kazakhstan for crypto miners, BTC dominance falling versus Ethereum and even DOGE, more news on Korean exchanges like Upbit, and other issues. Really showing that the digital economy is very alive and with growing pains too!