Yahoo Finance Crypto Weekly: miners feel the pinch
STORY: From why the boom could be over for crypto miners, to what Russia plans to do with a digital rouble, we round up the big stories in the world of virtual money.
Crypto miners are feeling the pinch.
Data from Blockchain.com shows global revenue from mining has dropped to just over $17 million per day - down about 72% from last November.
Miners have been hit by the tumbling value of bitcoin and the soaring cost for energy.
On the plus side though, the powerful computers used for mining are getting much cheaper.
And fresh figures show that bitcoin miners are struggling to go green.
[Source: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index]
Fossil fuels made up about 62% of bitcoin's energy mix in the year to January, the latest data available.
It’s only a slim gain from a year before.
That leaves crypto facing accusations of eco-vandalism, as production consumes vast amounts of electricity.
Russia is making plans to start using a digital rouble.
The virtual version of its currency should launch early next year, and Moscow plans to use it to settle trade payments with China.
Russian policymakers see it as way to overcome sanctions and chip away at U.S. dominance of international finance.
And Sam Bankman-Fried has sealed another big deal.
His firm FTX will acquire the assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital for just over $1.4 billion.
Voyager was a casualty of the tumbling value of bitcoin.
