bitcoinmining

Under heavy sanctions, Iran has built a $7.8B crypto ecosystem in 2025 to bypass the US dollar. The IRGC now controls 50% of the flows. Bitcoin $BTC is mined there at $1,320 and resold at $68,000. The Central Bank holds $507M in USDT. 15 million Iranians are fleeing the net collapse of the rial (-96%).
#Crypto #Iran #BitcoinMining #Stablecoins #SanctionsCrypto

$BTC
Bitcoin mining is the decentralized process that secures the Bitcoin network, validates transactions, and creates new bitcoins. Here's a breakdown of how it works:The Basics
Purpose: Bitcoin operates on a blockchain, a public ledger of all transactions. Mining ensures that this ledger is accurate, tamper-proof, and updated in a trustless way (without needing a central authority like a bank).How It Happens: Miners use powerful computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles. These puzzles involve finding a specific number (called a "nonce") that, when combined with transaction data and the previous block's information, produces a hash (a unique string of characters) meeting certain criteria—typically starting with a specific number of zeros. This is known as Proof-of-Work (PoW).Competition: Thousands of miners worldwide compete to solve the puzzle first. The winner gets to add a new "block" of transactions to the blockchain and broadcasts it to the network for verification.
Key Components
Hardware: Early mining used regular CPUs, but it evolved to GPUs and now specialized ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) for efficiency. Mining rigs consume massive electricity, often leading to operations in areas with cheap power.Rewards: The successful miner receives:A block reward: Currently 3.125 BTC per block (halved from 6.25 BTC in April 2024; it halves every ~4 years to cap Bitcoin's total supply at 21 million).Transaction fees: Paid by users to prioritize their transactions.Difficulty Adjustment: The network automatically adjusts puzzle difficulty every 2,016 blocks (~2 weeks) to maintain an average block time of 10 minutes, regardless of total mining power.
Why It Matters
Security: Mining makes it extremely costly to attack the network (e.g., via a 51% attack, where someone controls over half the mining power to rewrite history).Decentralization: Anyone can mine, though it's dominated by large pools (groups of miners sharing resources and rewards) like Foundry USA or AntPool.Environmental Impact: High energy use has sparked debate; some miners shift to renewables, but estimates suggest Bitcoin's annual energy consumption rivals that of small countries.
If you're interested in getting started, it typically involves joining a pool, buying hardware. However, solo mining is unprofitable for most due to competition—cloud mining or staking alternatives (like in Proof-of-Stake networks) might be easier entry points. For real-time stats like hash rate or price, I can pull that if needed.#BitcoinMining #BTCMiningDifficultyIncrease #BTC #BTCMining

French energy major Engie SA is evaluating whether to integrate Bitcoin mining data centers and large-scale battery storage at its newly operational Assu Sol solar complex in northeastern Brazil.

Key Takeaways
Engie SA is studying Bitcoin mining and battery storage at its Assu Sol solar plant in Brazil.The goal is to monetize curtailed electricity caused by grid constraints.Mining rigs could act as flexible energy buyers behind the meter.A decision and rollout would likely take up to two years.
The move is aimed at capturing value from electricity that would otherwise go unused due to grid bottlenecks.
The Assu Sol project - now Engie’s largest solar asset worldwide - received full commercial approval from Brazilian authorities on February 13, 2026. With a peak capacity of 895 MWp and 753 MW of installed capacity, the BRL 3.3 billion ($640 million) development spans 16 plants and more than 1.5 million photovoltaic panels.
Turning Wasted Power Into Revenue
Brazil’s rapid expansion in renewable generation has created a structural imbalance: wind and solar capacity have grown faster than transmission infrastructure. Since 2023, this has led to recurring curtailment - forced shutdowns when the grid cannot absorb excess electricity.
For operators, that means lost megawatt-hours and lost revenue.
Engie is now studying whether Bitcoin mining facilities could function as a “flexible offtaker,” consuming surplus power directly behind the meter. Unlike traditional industrial demand, mining rigs can be switched on and off almost instantly, allowing them to operate only when excess electricity is available.
The company’s focus is not speculative crypto exposure, but rather revenue protection. By monetizing curtailed output, Engie would aim to improve plant economics without depending on wholesale power prices.
Regulatory Tailwinds
Brazil has introduced supportive trade measures that could reduce setup costs. The country’s foreign trade council has temporarily reduced import duties to zero on high-efficiency mining equipment through January 2028. That incentive lowers capital expenditure barriers for energy-linked mining operations.
At the same time, Engie is also assessing utility-scale battery storage as an alternative. Batteries would store surplus power during oversupply periods and discharge it later when demand and grid prices improve.
Not an Immediate Shift
According to Eduardo Sattamini, Engie’s country manager in Brazil, implementation would not happen overnight. The company estimates roughly two years would be required to develop and deploy any mining or storage solution.
The broader strategy reflects a growing trend among renewable developers worldwide: pairing generation assets with flexible demand or storage to stabilize revenues in increasingly saturated renewable markets.
If executed, the Assu Sol initiative would position Engie among the largest global utilities experimenting with energy-backed Bitcoin mining as a grid-balancing mechanism rather than a speculative venture.
#Bitcoinmining

Hut 8 released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results on February 25, revealing a dramatic transformation in its business model.

Key Takeaways
Hut 8 Revenue jumped 179% year over year, but missed expectations.Net loss was driven mainly by a large non-cash Bitcoin revaluation.Gross margin improved significantly to 60%.AI and compute now dominate revenue, marking a clear strategic pivot.Investors focused on the AI growth story, pushing shares higher.
While the company posted a steep net loss tied to Bitcoin’s price volatility, revenue surged triple digits as management accelerated its shift toward AI infrastructure and high-performance computing.
The market appeared to look past the headline loss. Shares climbed roughly 2.4% following the announcement, suggesting investors are increasingly focused on the company’s long-term AI roadmap rather than short-term crypto accounting swings.
Revenue Jumps 179%, But Earnings Swing Deeply Negative
For Q4 2025, Hut 8 reported revenue of $88.5 million, up 179% from $31.7 million in the same quarter a year earlier. However, the figure fell short of analyst expectations near $95.6 million.
The bottom line showed a sharp reversal. The company posted a net loss of $301.8 million, compared to a $152.0 million profit in Q4 2024. Adjusted EBITDA came in at negative $347.8 million, down from positive $310.6 million a year earlier.
Despite the steep loss, earnings per share of -$0.1101 beat analyst forecasts, which had projected a wider loss in the range of roughly -$0.12 to -$0.25 per share.
Gross margin improved significantly to 60%, up from 36% in Q4 2024, indicating stronger underlying operating performance even as accounting losses weighed on net results.
Bitcoin Accounting Weighs on Results
Management attributed the majority of the net loss to a $401.9 million unrealized mark-to-market loss on its Bitcoin holdings. The company ended the year with approximately 13,696 BTC valued at around $1.4 billion, down from $1.6 billion in Q3 following a roughly 25% drop in Bitcoin’s price during the quarter.
Executives described this as “Bitcoin noise,” emphasizing that the loss was non-cash and largely accounting-driven. Excluding the unrealized crypto revaluation, operational metrics showed improvement, particularly in margin expansion and segment performance.
Compute Segment Becomes Core Revenue Engine
The company’s Compute segment has now become its primary growth driver. It generated $81.9 million in Q4, accounting for 92% of total quarterly revenue. The segment includes Bitcoin mining, GPU-as-a-Service, and cloud-based infrastructure offerings.
CEO Asher Genoot characterized 2025 as the year of the “power-first” pivot, marking Hut 8’s transition away from being viewed solely as a Bitcoin miner toward becoming a long-term AI infrastructure provider.
Development Pipeline Expands Toward AI Infrastructure
Hut 8’s development pipeline has expanded to 8,500 megawatts of energy capacity, with 330 MW currently under construction. A key project is the 245 MW River Bend campus, designed as a large-scale AI data center.
The River Bend facility is backed by a 15-year, $7.0 billion lease agreement with Fluidstack, supported by Google. Delivery of the project is expected to begin in Q2 2027, positioning Hut 8 as a major player in AI-focused data infrastructure.
Strategic Reset Beyond Bitcoin
The latest results underscore a broader strategic reset. Rather than relying purely on Bitcoin mining revenue, Hut 8 is attempting to build more predictable, long-duration cash flows from AI data centers and high-performance computing contracts.
While crypto volatility continues to introduce earnings swings through mark-to-market adjustments, investors appear increasingly willing to separate operational progress from Bitcoin price fluctuations. The modest post-earnings stock rally reflects growing confidence that the company’s AI infrastructure pivot may define its next growth cycle more than its digital asset treasury.
#Bitcoinmining

A remarkable development occurred on the Bitcoin ( $BTC ) network. A solo miner, who rented hash power for only $75, defied all odds and earned a block reward, generating over 3.1 BTC in revenue. This achievement translates to approximately $200,000 in earnings.

The miner rented a minimum of 1 Petahash/s (PH/s) of power through the hash power marketplace offered by Braiins.

Given the current Bitcoin network hash rate, the probability of finding a block with a capacity of 1 PH/s is estimated to be approximately one in 1.1 million blocks. This represents an extremely low probability, equivalent to approximately 21 years of mining. Experts liken this situation to “playing the lottery.”

Under normal circumstances, the vast majority of Bitcoin blocks are found by large mining pools with immense computing power. These pools utilize vast amounts of computing capacity to solve the cryptographic transactions that ensure Bitcoin’s distributed ledger structure and network security. Therefore, it is quite rare for solo miners to earn block rewards.
Nevertheless, similar “lottery” wins have occurred recently. In January, two different solo miners earned over 3.1 BTC in rewards, generating approximately $300,000 in revenue at the time. In December, another miner managed to earn over $282,000, depending on the Bitcoin price.

These achievements are even more remarkable given the network’s ever-increasing total computing power. According to the data, the Bitcoin network’s average daily hash rate is above 1.1 Zettahash/s. In the same period last year, this figure was approximately 730 Exahash/s; indicating a nearly 61% increase in network capacity in a year.
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