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Bitcoin miners are shifting to other cryptocurrencies amid falling profits, reports CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju. Bitcoin's hashprice has hit an all-time low. This metric indicates expected daily earnings per unit of mining power, which is a fundamental indicator of the overall efficiency of the mining business. The trend is affecting mining companies' strategies. Many are simply forced to slow equipment investments. Some are switching to alternative proof-of-work coins. These moves aim to hedge against market uncertainty. Ju states, "Bitcoin hashprice hit an all-time low. Many mining companies slowed mining rig investments, with some switching to other PoW coins to hedge against market uncertainty." He believes this shift is temporary. Miners are not long-term bearish, in his view. They are waiting for buy-side liquidity to recover. This pattern suggests miner capitulation. Such behavior often precedes Bitcoin bull runs. Bitcoin currently trades at $60,681. Ju also sees signs of an emerging altcoin season. Ethereum's Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) ratio is rising faster than Bitcoin's. This indicates growing interest in Ethereum relative to its on-chain fundamentals. "We're entering early altcoin season," Ju notes. "ETH MVRV is rising faster than Bitcoin (BTC) MVRV, suggesting ETH market is heating up relative to its on-chain fundamentals." He speculates this could be an Ethereum-focused trend. Current ETF developments may drive this dynamic. Historically, Ethereum price surges often lead to broader altcoin rallies, simply put, ETH is a locomotive for other altcoins to follow, and it quite often happens exactly so. Market participants will be watching closely for potential ripple effects across the cryptocurrency sector. The situation highlights the evolving dynamics in the cryptocurrency mining industry. Miners are adapting to changing market conditions. Their strategies reflect broader trends in profitability and investor sentiment across different blockchain networks.

The Cardano Foundation has released sustainability indicators for its blockchain network to align with Europe's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, required for operating in the EU. The release was made in partnership with the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI). The timing is significant. It comes six months before MiCA's second phase implementation for crypto asset providers. The first phase, targeting stablecoins, took effect on June 30, and has already brought some serios troubles to Tether and other issuers. Inability or unwillingness to comply with MiCA results in a ban to operate in EU. MiCA requires crypto asset issuers and service providers to disclose sustainability indicators. The Cardano Foundation and CCRI collaborated to meet this requirement. The result is a comprehensive report on Cardano's sustainability indicators, which turned out to be rather impressive. Cardano indeed uses an energy-efficient consensus protocol that consumes much less energy than Proof-of-Work blockchains like Bitcoin. As of May 2024, Cardano's network energy consumption was 704.91 MWh. This translates to 0.192 W per transaction per second (TPS). The report also discloses Cardano's carbon footprint. The annualized figure is 250.73 tCO2e. The carbon intensity of consumed electricity is 356 gCO2 per kWh. These metrics align with MiCA's draft regulatory technical standards. In many ways, Cardano sets a benchmark for other blockchain networks with this report. Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, commented on the initiative. He said, "There is a growing need to address sustainability in the crypto space." Gregaard believes the CCRI partnership will help Cardano meet MiCA's requirements. Dr. Ulrich Gallersdörfer, CTO and co-founder of CCRI, also weighed in. He stressed the importance of scientific methodologies and real-world data. These are crucial for measuring and managing blockchain networks' environmental impacts. The report sets a precedent in the crypto industry. It demonstrates a proactive approach to regulatory compliance and environmental responsibility.

Robinhood, a major retail trading platform, is exploring the launch of crypto futures in the US and Europe. The company has not set a specific timeline for this potential expansion, but it seems that this teeny tiny revolution is already looming at the horizon. The move follows Robinhood's recent acquisition of Bitstamp, a cryptocurrency exchange. With that purchase Robinhood immediately became quite a prominent player in the crypto industry. Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood's general manager of crypto, commented on the acquisition. He emphasized Bitstamp's resilience and strong reputation among investors. The acquisition also aims to bolster Robinhood's international expansion. But what's even more important, the move also seeks to attract institutional customers to the platform. Though institutional trade might have questionable consequences for Robingood in the light of some recent events. In May, Robinhood received a Wells Notice from the SEC. This warning indicates potential legal action against the company. Dan Gallagher, Robinhood's chief legal officer, responded to the notice. He asserted that the assets on their platform are not securities, and as such shouldn't be in sight of SEC. Gallagher stated, "We firmly believe that the assets listed on our platform are not securities." Robinhood, founded in 2013, has become a prominent player in retail investing. It gained popularity for its commission-free trades and user-friendly mobile app. Millions of users come to the platform to buy and sell stock, ETF, options, and cryptocurrency.

The German government has intensified its Bitcoin sell-off. It transferred 282.74 BTC to major exchanges on Tuesday. The value was approximately $17.64 million. The transfers occurred at 4:20 p.m. Central Indonesian Time. They were made to Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken. This action follows a broader divestment trend. Over 3,000 BTC have been moved to exchanges in the past two weeks. Germany's Bitcoin holdings have decreased significantly. On June 22, they were valued at $3.06 billion. This represented 47.18K BTC at $64,827 per coin. By July 2, the value had dropped to $2.89 billion. The price had fallen to $62,671, and holdings reduced to 46.19K BTC. The government has sold nearly 1,000 BTC in the last 10 days. This represents a decrease of about $163.5 million in Bitcoin holdings. The government may be capitalizing on high prices or adjusting financial strategies. The sale of over 3,000 BTC in two weeks indicates significant market activity. This trend could impact market sentiment and price stability. Large amounts of Bitcoin are entering the market through major exchanges. Raj A. Kapoor, Founder of the Blockchain Governance Council, commented on the potential market impact. He told Decrypt, "This will result in short-term volatility as large transfers can cause short-term price fluctuations as traders react to the news." Kapoor added that such movements can create uncertainty among investors. A government moving large amounts of Bitcoin could be seen as a lack of confidence or a precursor to regulatory actions.

A significant Ethereum (ETH) transaction caught the attention of crypto analysts over the weekend. On-chain data revealed a single entity withdrew over $206 million worth of ETH from Bitfinex. What is this whale up to? Lookonchain suggests the whale is likely Abraxas Capital Management. it is a famous UK-based investment firm that specializes in crypto assets. Abraxas has been active in the crypto space since 2017. As of April 2024, its three digital asset funds manage over $2 billion. The whale's actions didn't stop at withdrawal. There was a serious game to be carried out, that someone must have planned meticulously. So at first, the ETH was deposited into Spark, a DeFi infrastructure provider. This move appears strategic. The deposited ETH serves as collateral for the stablecoin DAI. No wonder, our whale then borrowed 101 million DAI from Spark. But the next move was kind of surprising, if not to say unpredictable. This borrowed DAI was then swapped for 101 million USDC. That's a second most popular stablecoin in the world, in case you forgot. The final step saw the USDC deposited into Binance, the world's leading crypto exchange. This series of transactions demonstrates complex maneuvering within the crypto ecosystem, basically, our whale definitely knew what to do. Spark offers multiple DeFi products. These include SparkLend, a DAI-centric money market protocol, and sDAI, a yield-bearing stablecoin. At the time of writing, ETH trades at $3,442. While up 3% over seven days, it's down 10% month-on-month. ETH remains 29% below its November 2021 all-time high of $4,878. USDC and DAI rank as the second and third-largest stablecoins by market cap. Both aim to maintain a 1:1 peg with the US dollar.

Cardano (ADA) has lost its top position in network development activities. The blockchain network now ranks fifth among cryptocurrencies with the highest development frequency. And that is surprising. This shift comes despite recent updates touted by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson. Santiment, a market intelligence platform, revealed the new rankings in a recent social media post. You might be wondering about the new king? Well, Hedera (HDAR) now leads the list. Chainlink (LINK) follows in second place. Optimism (OP) and Internet Computer (ICP) occupy the third and fourth positions respectively. The rankings were determined by counting primary non-redundant activities in each project. Santiment averaged this daily activity over the past 30 days to produce the results. The platform shared a chart depicting prices and market capitalization of the top 10 cryptocurrencies. Anyway, the Cardano network continues to pursue significant development projects. ADA is currently undergoing core tech optimizations to enhance efficiency and performance. The Mithril protocol team has released a "threat modeling explainer". They have also enhanced transaction certification and fixed verification bugs to improve scaling efficiency. Efforts to enhance network nodes and smart contract advancements are underway. Cardano has released a list of "Partners and Real World Integration" featuring over 12 global tier-one companies. A key development is the upcoming Chang hard fork. This upgrade is expected to introduce new governance to the Cardano ecosystem. It aims to improve overall functionality and performance. Despite losing the top development spot, Cardano maintains a significant presence in the blockchain space. The network's commitment to research-driven approaches and continuous advancement remains evident.

Kraken is considering nuclear energy to power its data centers. The move comes amid expected growth in decentralized finance (DeFi) and increased demand for its services. Vishnu Patankar, Kraken's chief technical officer, revealed this in an exclusive interview with CoinDesk. The company is not planning to build its own reactors. Instead, it's exploring partnerships with energy providers using small modular reactors (SMRs). SMRs can be co-located with data centers. They aren't constrained by space or weather conditions. "With institutions moving into the crypto asset class and activity moving on-chain, the need for reliable fiat onramps continues to grow," Patankar said. He emphasized the importance of energy resiliency for supporting crypto ecosystem growth. The crypto exchange aims to secure its energy supply. This is in response to surging demand from artificial intelligence (AI) and high performance computing (HPC) firms. These sectors are altering the power stability landscape. Kraken is investigating nuclear power options in North America and Europe. Patankar noted the constant energy demand due to crypto's round-the-clock, global nature. The company's exploration aligns with a broader trend. More tech companies are seeking deals with nuclear operators to power AI-focused data centers. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. Some bitcoin miners are shifting focus. They're now supplying infrastructure for power-hungry AI companies. Core Scientific recently signed a deal with AI firm CoreWeave. Patankar highlighted the potential benefits of nuclear backup. It would allow Kraken to operate during major disruptions to local energy supply. This redundancy protects the firm's ability to offer continuous services globally. The CTO anticipates a significant boom in DeFi. This could exponentially increase Kraken's energy needs in the future. While a final decision is pending, nuclear power is under serious consideration. Patankar cited limitations of alternatives like wind and solar, which are weather-dependent.

Thomas Fahrer, CEO of crypto review platform Apollo, suggests multiple factors could drive Bitcoin price to $500,000 in the next few years. This would require a full-scale bull run and would represent an eightfold increase from current levels. Fahrer believes several "low probability" events could trigger a strong bull market. Even if only a few materialize, Bitcoin could reach $300,000 to $500,000 in the next four-year cycle, meaning 10x profits for most of the current BTC holders. According to Fahrer, one potential catalyst is Bitcoin surpassing gold's market capitalization. "Bitcoin's $1.2 trillion market cap compared to gold's $15 trillion is achievable within years," Fahrer states. He also notes U.S. presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr.'s proposal to back the dollar with Bitcoin. While Fahrer doesn't expect Kennedy to win, he sees value in the public discussion about these kinds of non-trivial decisions. "If that happened, it would send Bitcoin astronomically higher," Fahrer explains the possible outcome of Kennedy's idea. Fahrer's X following has grown steadily since late 2022. It accelerated with the launch of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024. His regular updates on ETF flows have attracted attention. Fahrer now has approximately 60,000 X followers. "There's been a lot of interest in ETFs," he says. "It's the big story of this cycle and potentially for crypto beyond Bitcoin." Despite his optimism, Fahrer doesn't ignore market downturns. He was one of those who noticed recent significant sell-offs, including those from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, and carried out an analysis of those events. For Bitcoin content, Fahrer has preferred sources. He follows Vivek Sen for memes, Hodl Capital for ETF flows, and Glassnode's James Check for technical analysis.

A new competitor to Pepe Coin (PEPE) is attracting attention from crypto whales. The token, Pepe Unchained (PEPU), is gaining traction in web3 trading circles. But make no mistake, it's not just another meme coin. PEPU is a new Ethereum layer-2 blockchain. So it's a meme coin on a solid base, to say the least. PEPU is currently in presale. Several prominent crypto analysts have invested. Clinix Crypto, with over 60,000 YouTube subscribers, has bought in. Crypto Gains advised his 130,000 subscribers to consider an early investment. Jacob Crypto Bury sees potential for a 10x return. The presale has raised over $1.77 million to date. At the current token price of $0.0081939, PEPU's market cap stands at $64 million. This valuation could increase if the project succeeds as both a meme coin and an Ethereum layer-2 solution. Investors should note that the token price will rise once the presale reaches $1.96 million. To participate, users can connect their MetaMask wallet on the official website. The presale accepts ETH, BNB, and USDT. Pepe Unchained aims to appeal to both the Pepe meme coin community and DeFi enthusiasts. Thirty percent of the token supply is allocated for staking rewards. Presale investors can start earning these rewards immediately. The project's website currently displays a staking yield of around 1,100%. At this rate, early investors could potentially double their initial investment in about one month. However, this yield is expected to decrease as more PEPU is staked. This high yield offers early investors a chance to increase their holdings. This potential growth is independent of any price appreciation post-launch. The token price increase and high staking yields present significant opportunities. However, investors should conduct thorough research before participating. Crypto investments carry inherent risks. As the crypto market evolves, projects like PEPU demonstrate the ongoing innovation in the space. The combination of meme coin appeal and layer-2 functionality could set a new trend in the industry. Now might be the best time to jump on that wagon, of course if you on of those people, who are up to risky projects in their early stages.

Circle has obtained registration as an electronic money institution in France. This grants the firm a crucial license to issue stablecoins under the European Union's new stringent crypto regulations. And thus Circle's USDC might finally get an edge over Tether's USDT. The approval comes from France's banking regulator, ACPR. Circle is now the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, which many crypto fans have already dubbed 'demonic', 'unhealthy' and even 'orwellian'. The license enables Circle to issue its USDC and EURC tokens in the EU. These will now comply with MiCA's stablecoin rules. Circle is also launching its Circle Mint service in France. Jeremy Allaire, Circle's CEO, called the approval "a huge milestone". He emphasized the company's commitment to regulatory compliance since its founding and now this long-term investment has paid off. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to traditional assets. They offer stability in the volatile crypto market. Traders use them to move quickly between cryptocurrencies. The EU passed MiCA last year. It's the world's first comprehensive crypto law. Also deemed as one of the harshest ones. MiCA outlines investor protection rules and safeguards against market manipulation. Stablecoin provisions under MiCA were approved last week. These rules are particularly strict. They limit trading volumes for certain stablecoins, especially those denominated in US dollars. Circle's French registration allows it to offer services throughout the EU. This includes minting and redeeming USDC via Circle Mint. MiCA permits crypto businesses to "passport" their services across the bloc. The remaining MiCA obligations will apply from December 30, 2024, but crypto companies will have until July 2026 to achieve full compliance. Two years isn't a very long period for the world of finance, to say the least. USDC is the second-largest stablecoin globally. It has $32.4 billion in circulation. Tether's USDT remains the largest, with $112.7 billion in circulation. Yet, Tether hasn't done crucial steps to comply with MiCA demands, and we will have to wait and see how it ends for the leading stablecoin. As well as for its competitors.