Riot Platforms reported a significant, almost 50% increase in its deployed hash rate during June. The company's hash rate in Bitcoin mining rose from 14.7 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 22 EH/s. This surge enabled Riot, a prominent Bitcoin mining firm, to mine 255 Bitcoin in June. That is a nearly 20% increase from May. The boost in hash rate was attributed to completed miner installations at the Corsicana facility and utilization of additional capacity at the Rockdale Facility. CEO Jason Les described June as a "historic month" for Riot. The company exceeded its mid-year deployed hash rate target of 21.4 EH/s. Most of the new miners were energized in the final days of June. Riot retained all Bitcoin mined in June. This brought its total Bitcoin holdings to 9,334, valued at $561.6 million at current prices. The 255 Bitcoin mined in June, worth $15.3 million, represents a 45% year-on-year decrease. This reduction is due to the infamous halving event in April, which cut the block subsidy by half and thus curtailed the miners' profits. Riot now ranks as the second-largest Bitcoin miner by hash rate. It has surpassed CleanSpark and Core Scientific, both of which have reported hash rates exceeding 20 EH/s. Marathon Digital remains the leader with a hash rate of 31.5 EH/s. At least for now. Riot ambitiously aims to increase its total self-mining hash rate capacity to 31.5 EH/s by the end of 2024. We haven't heard of any Marathon Digital plans so far. In the meantime, Riot isn't going to stop even when its 'arch enemy' is defeated. The company has set an ambitious target of 100 EH/s by 2027 or shortly after. In order to achieve this goal, Riot plans to purchase additional MicroBT miners in the future.

El Salvador continues its "1 BTC a day program" despite recent market downturns. Data from BitInfoCharts confirms this ongoing strategy of the first crypto country of the world. The first crypto country keeps doing phenomenal things. The nation's crypto wallet has been consistently acquiring one Bitcoin daily since March. And there is no sign of stopping that bullish trend. President Nayib Bukele's anounced this politics in November 2022. Bukele then reaffirmed the policy in March 2024. He also said that purchases would continue until Bitcoin "becomes unaffordable with fiat currencies." Basically it means, El Salvador is going to buy Bitcoin until the time when fiat currencies won't matter anymore in the financial world, believe it or not. He also confirmed in February that El Salvador has no plans to sell its BTC reserves. The country has moved a significant portion of its holdings to a cold wallet. Bukele referred to this as El Salvador's "first Bitcoin piggy bank." Reports indicate the nation received Bitcoins from crypto exchange Bitfinex. Additionally, El Salvador has mined 474 BTCs over the past three years. This was achieved using geothermal power from the Tecapa volcano, according to Reuters. The Latin American nation recently proposed banking reforms. These aim to enable banks to conduct operations in both Bitcoin and US dollars. This move signals a deepening integration of cryptocurrency into El Salvador's financial system. No wonder, the country stays faithful to its declared policy of 'buying, buying, buying' regardless of the circumstances. Which kind of reminds us Michael Saylor's bullish sentiments, right? El Salvador's commitment to Bitcoin remains steady despite market fluctuations. The country continues its purchases even as Bitcoin's price has fallen sharply. Bitcoin recently plummeted to around $58,000. This decline followed a high of over $63,000 on July 2. Total liquidations reached $260 million during this period. The cryptocurrency experienced a 3.7% drop in 24 hours. This downturn has also affected various altcoins. El Salvador's persistent Bitcoin strategy reflects its long-term faith in the cryptocurrency. The nation maintains its purchase schedule regardless of short-term market volatility.

Bitcoin mining is not that bad for our mother nature, after all. According to a recent study, Big Tech's carbon emissions continue to grow exponentially. This is largely due to the rise of generative artificial intelligence. Amazon alone now produces more carbon dioxide per year than all global Bitcoin mining. Most major U.S. tech firms began disclosing emissions in 2019. And that data is scary. Data shows Big Tech has released more CO2 since 2019 than Bitcoin has since 2014. Bitcoin's exact carbon footprint is difficult to calculate. Researchers lack comprehensive power grid data from all mining countries. However, cost estimates compared to mining activity provide feasible approximations. A United Nations University study found Bitcoin mining consumed 173.42 Terawatt hours of electricity in 2020-2021. This exceeds Pakistan's energy use, a nation of 220 million. Another study estimated Bitcoin mining produced 65.4 megatonnes of CO2 annually as of 2022. This equals Greece's entire carbon footprint. Critics argue Bitcoin's value doesn't justify its climate impact. But how does it compare to tech companies? Amazon self-reported 71.54 million metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2021. This surpasses Bitcoin's estimated 65.4 million metric tons. Google reported 14.3 million tons in 2023. Microsoft reported 15.3 million tons. Combined with Amazon, this exceeds 100 million tons annually. Apple's 15.6 million tons are not included. Direct comparisons between company reports and Bitcoin estimates aren't entirely scientific. However, Big Tech's footprint is clearly larger, even while we don't have exact numbers. And we don't know if we ever will, which is pretty sad. Assuming AI, Bitcoin, and cloud computing data centers have similar power demands, U.S. Big Tech has likely emitted more carbon since 2019 than all Bitcoin mining in history.

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 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.