Kategorie: Crypto Business

• Marathon Digital mined 2,195 bitcoin in Q1, with 41% of that (825 BTC) mined in March.
• The company also grew its total hashrate by 64% from 7 exahashes t0 11.5 exahashes.
• CEO Fred Thiel says the company is confident it will reach its primary growth targets.

Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) had one of its best quarterly performances in terms of Bitcoin mining returns in Q1, 2023, according to company’s unaudited mining and installations update the published on Tuesday.

With hashrate increasing by over 60% during the quarter, the miner saw its total BTC holdings jump by a record 2,195 bitcoin.

Marathon Digital says it mined 2,195 BTC in Q1 2023, with 825 BTC in March

As the crypto market looked to bounce from the brutal 2022 bear market in the first three months of 2023, with Bitcoin price reaching highs near $29k, Marathon Digital bumped up its mining operations.

March was the standout month as the miner added 825 bitcoin, about 41% of total BTC mined in the quarter. That figure was up 21% on the total number of BTC mined in February as total quarterly mining count reached 2,195 BTC.

According to Marathon Digital CEO Fred Peter, the uptick in production came as the company increased its hashrate after a difficult 2022. He commented:

“During the quarter, we increased our operational hash rate 64% from 7.0 exahashes to 11.5 exahashes. We also observed improvements in the consistency of our hash rate, which indicates that some of the technological upgrades we have been implementing are starting to take effect. By improving our hash rate, we increased our bitcoin production 41% from the prior quarter to a record 2,195 bitcoin in Q1. In March, we produced a record 825 bitcoin, which is a 21% increase from the prior month.”

In Q1, 2022, Marathon mined 1,259 bitcoin while it managed 1,562 in Q4, 2022.

According to the miner, its total BTC holdings at the end of Q1 was 11,466 bitcoin – worth about $326.5 as of 31 March. The company also ended the quarter with $124.9 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents.

“Given the operational and financial improvements we made during the first quarter, we remain optimistic that we can achieve our primary growth targets and establish Marathon as one of the largest and most energy efficient Bitcoin mining operations globally,” Thiel noted.

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Key takeaways

• Binance.US’s acquisition of Voyager Digital is on hold until the legal battle with the exchange has been resolved.

• Voyager wants the legal fight to be resolved by April 13, as creditors stand to lose $100 million due to the delay.

• Binance is facing a lawsuit in the United States after the CFTC accused it of improper compliance procedures and trading.

Voyager wants Binance.US’s legal fight resolved soon

Bankrupt cryptocurrency lending firm Voyager Digital wants the legal fight with Binance.US to be resolved by April 13th, or its creditors stand to lose $100 million. This is according to legal documents filed late Monday night. 

Binance.US and Voyager Digital had agreed to a $1 billion acquisition deal prior to Binance’s legal case in the United States. 

Last month, Michael E. Wiles, United States Bankruptcy Judge at the Southern District of New York court, denied the US government’s request to halt Binance.US’ acquisition of Voyager, citing the impact this is having on customers of the bankrupt crypto lender.

Voyager Digital now believes that the ongoing legal delays could see Binance.US pull out of the deal to acquire the firm. The embattled crypto lender’s creditors wrote;

“Consummation of the plan by April 13 is necessary to preserve massive creditor value. The evidence is uncontroverted that, if the deal is not completed, Voyager’s creditors will lose roughly $100 million in value.”

Voyager Digital stated in another filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that there would be a  price tag of $10 million per month if the delay continues. If that happens, over a million of its customers would not have access to their savings.

Binance.US could back out of the deal 

 According to the original terms of the agreement signed in December and approved by bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles in March, Binance.US can back out of the deal if it is not concluded within four months. 

However, the US government lawyers continue to argue that the detailed terms of the contract would effectively absolve the company from breaches of tax or securities law.

This resulted in District Judge Jennifer Rearden putting the deal on hold last week while the issue was settled. 

The legal battle also comes as Binance, the parent company of Binance.US and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), face another lawsuit in the United States.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and CZ last week, accusing the exchange of offering crypto trading services of commodities (Bitcoin, Ether, Binance USD, Tether and Litecoin), without proper registration.

However, CZ rejected the allegations made against Binance and himself. He called 

CFTC’s claims incomplete recitation of facts.

On March 3, CZ tweeted that Binance.US could pull out of the deal to acquire Voyager Digital due to the legal delays.

We are still in support of the deal and helping returning funds to users as quickly as possible, if allowed to do so. 🙏

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) March 3, 2023

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• Gala Games says the partnership will help advance development across the Web3 gaming industry.
• Huobi will list Gala Games ecosystem coins and invest in top quality gaming projects.
• Huobi Token price was largely flat on Friday, trading around $3.66.

Web3 gaming company Gala Games has entered a strategic partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global to boost development and investment in top notch gaming projects.

Huobi to list Gala Games tokens

The partnership will see Huobi Global integrate Gala Game’s highly scalable layer 1 blockchain and list Gala Games ecosystem tokens. The collaboration also allows the two platforms to co-invest in leading game projects and support other growth initiatives.

👏 Great News!#Huobi is happy to announce a strategic partnership with #Gala Games @GoGalaGames in ecosystem development.

Together, we will cooperate in the investment and listing of high-quality projects, including Layer1 integration, cobranding & community development. pic.twitter.com/LTqy8pXkF3

— Huobi (@HuobiGlobal) March 31, 2023

Jason Brink, President of Blockchain at Gala Games stated that the partnership is a key step towards mass adoption of Gala’s layer 1 blockchain.

“Integration of our layer 1 blockchain into popular exchanges like Huobi is absolutely crucial with the level of mass adoption we’re looking for. This partnership empowers tomorrow’s developers to create a more stable and secure web3 future,” he noted in a press release published on Friday.

Huobi was founded in 2013 and is one of the largest digital assets platforms in terms of daily trading volume. 

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Huobi is the 17th largest exchange in spot volume and the 10th largest in derivatives volume as of 31 March 2023. The exchange’s native token Huobi Token traded around $3.66 at the time of writing. The all-time high for HT was $39.66 reached on 12 May, 2021.

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• Ledger’s last round was at a €1.3 billion valuation.
• The startup will use the funds to develop a new generation of hardware wallets, building on its latest offer Ledger Stax.
• New investors in the series C extension round included VaynerFund and True Global Ventures.

Ledger, the leading cryptocurrency hardware wallet maker, has raised €100 million ($109 million) in its series C extension round.

As reported by Bloomberg on Thursday, the French startup was valued at €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion), which was the valuation during the previous financing round closed in June 2021.

Ledger is proud to announce our Series C extension fundraising round.

We continue our mission of bringing ease-of-use and uncompromised security to your digital value.

Read what our CEO @_pgauthier has to say:https://t.co/JSHyi5jKIQ pic.twitter.com/aGi2FhOXCs

— Ledger (@Ledger) March 30, 2023

“Today, Ledger announced our funding round. I’m grateful for our long-term investors’ continued support, and I welcome the new investors backing the current undeniable revolution of value and hardware. These funds will accelerate our mission to bring a new generation of secure consumer devices to hundreds of millions exploring critical digital assets and blockchain-enabled technology,” Ledger CEO & Chairman Pascal Gauthier said in a statement.

New backers for the round include VaynerFund, True Global Ventures, Cité Gestion SPV, and Digital Finance Group. Returning investors included Cathay Innovation, Draper Dragon, Morgan Creek, and Cap Horn.

Ledger eyeing next generation hardware wallet

The funding round comes amid growing demand from crypto holders for devices that offer next generation level storage and security for the digital asset industry.

According to Gauthier, the world is entering a new era of Internet of Value and billions of people will want access to devices that are built for the decentralised Internet of Value – in this case hardware wallets that go beyond the basic security features.

The recent launch of Ledger’s new hardware wallet Ledger Stax is the beginning of that journey into the future of “next-generation” hardware wallets. Stax’s designer is iPod and iPhone co-inventor & designer Tony Fadell.

Ledger was founded in 2014, and one of its most popular USB-type hardware wallets is the Ledger Nano S, Ledger Nano S Plus and Nano X. The company also offers Ledger Live on desktop and mobile.

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• NFT Inspect is a web-based app and browser extension for Web3 and NFTs.
• JVH Technology Inc. has acquired full ownership of the Social Intelligence application.
• Co-founder Stefan Mai and Evan King have left the project to pursue other interests within the industry.

Blockchain technology firm JVH Technology Inc. has acquired web-based app and browser extension NFT Inspect, continuing its focus on advancing adoption of NFTs despite negative market conditions.

The acquisition marks a new chapter for NFT Inspect, with a new team taking over just over three months after the platform put brakes on plans to shut down amid the crypto winter. NFT Inspect teased the acquisition in a tweet on Monday.

We are thrilled to announce that NFTInspect has been acquired by a new ownership team. The new leaders boast deep roots in the NFT & Web3 space, this pivotal moment signals a promising resurgence for NFTInspect. pic.twitter.com/fZR4qOF7TT

— Inspect (@nftinspect) March 27, 2023

JVH to promote Web3 and NFTs adoption

NFT Inspect is a top Web3 social intelligence application and NFT hub with over 100,000 users, attracting a growing community as more people seek to tap into revenue-generating protocols.

“We are thrilled to have acquired such a remarkable and popular Web3 project,” said JVH Head of Business Allan Satim.

“Inspect has already established an exceptional community, and we are excited to integrate additional resources into the Inspect ecosystem while placing strong emphasis on community involvement and the fundamental principles of Web3,” he added in a press release.

Satim noted that Inspect is a major player within the NFT and SocialFi ecosystem, and the acquisition is an opportunity to expand on its growth. JVH plans to integrate other crypto, SocialFi and Web3 projects, bringing new revenue-generating opportunities and giving more value to the community.

According to the JVH, NFT Inspect founders Evan King and Stefan Mai will be transitioning to new projects.

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