Marathon Digital mined a record 2,195 bitcoin in Q1 2023

  • 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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CELO price surges as Celo Foundation and Google Cloud announce Web3 partnership

  • Celo price rose to intraday highs of $0.73 on Tuesday, with trading volume rising 139%.
  • The price surge followed news of Celo Foundation and Google Cloud partnership to boost Web3 founders on the Celo blockchain.
  • CELO price outlook suggests key hurdle is at $0.74 while immediate main support is around $0.56.

CELO price rose on Tuesday as the Celo Foundation and Google Cloud partnered to help accelerate further adoption across Web3. CELO price traded at lows of $0.65 earlier in the day, but shot to intraday highs above $0.73 as news of the partnership reached the market.

At the time of writing, the CELO/USD pair was up 7% with trading volume spiking 139% in the 24-hour period. 

The increased market activity had seen CELO price tick up 20% over the past week as well as turning positive in the 30-day period with about 2% of upside.

CELO price jumps to $0.73 after Celo/Google Cloud news

On Tuesday, the Celo Foundation announced a collaboration with Google Cloud, the cloud computing services arm of tech giant Google. Celo price rose after the news.

According to the Celo Foundation, the partnership will see Web3 founders and developers building on Celo benefit from workshops and computing services from Google. Per the foundation, Google Cloud has joined Celo’s founders’ program and will play a key role in boosting Web3-focused projects by offering credits for use across Google Cloud and Firebase platforms. 

Firebase is Google’s mobile platform that offers cross-platform SDKs for developers to build and ship apps.

Google Cloud’s core team is also set to provide mentorship and guidance to projects via Celo Foundation’s Founders in Residence program. The leadership efforts will also be available during Celo Camp, an eight-week virtual accelerator program, with Google Cloud now joining key supporters including Twilio SendGrid, HubSpot, and Coinbase Cloud.

What next for CELO price?

CELO traded at highs of $0.92 in early February. At current price levels of $0.69, Celo is more than 90% off its all-time high of $9.82 reached in August 2021.

As for the short term technical outlook for CELO, the latest price is above the coin’s 200-day simple moving average (SMA). However, after hitting intraday highs above $0.73, the retreat below 70 cents has CELO/USD below the 50-day SMA.  

Celo price on the daily chart. Source: TradingView

While the 50 SMA provides the immediate supply zone hurdle, it’s trajectory suggests further downside pressure if a death cross occurs. Nonetheless, the support of the longer moving average could help buyers target today’s highs and the February peak in the short term. 

The daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) is above 50 to suggest momentum is with the bulls. However, if sellers regain the advantage, CELO price could revisit $0.65 and possibly the immediate support base at $0.56.

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SYS Labs acquires FortKnoxster, launches SuperDapp

  • SYS Labs announced Tuesday the acquisition of FortKnoxster.
  • FortKnoxster is a crypto-security company that secures and futureproof Web3.
  • SYS Labs will leverage its acquisition to launch an AI-powered social crypto dApp named SuperDapp.

SYS Labs said in a Tuesday press release it reached a deal to acquire cryptosecurity company FortKnoxster.

SYS, best known for creating infrastructure, dApps, and other tools to build layers of Web3, also launched an artificial intelligence powered social crypto dApp named SuperDapp along with a new utility token as part of the acquisition.

The merger details

SYS Labs’ merger with FortKnoxster will expand its Syscoin ecosystem into the cryptosecurity and decentralized social marketplace areas. SuperDapp, internally known as the “killer app”, will offer communication features common in social apps but will be designed for security-conscious crypto users.

The merger is in part based on “everything apps” that are common in many Asian markets, SYS Labs President Jagdeep Sidhu said in the press release. SuperDapp will “answer the need for many of these capabilities” when it is released in the second quarter.

FortKnoxster CEO & Co-Founder, Niels Klitsgaard commented:

The acquisition by SYS Labs is an exciting milestone for our company and validates the hard work our team has dedicated to building innovative technologies. This assimilation marks a new chapter for our potential, because SYS Labs has what it takes to ensure the future development, expansion, and awareness of our mission.

AMA to be held on Friday

The FortKnoxster team is hosting an ask me anything (AMA) event on Friday. Among topics to be discussed includes how existing holders of the FortKnoxster token FKX will be able to swap for the new SuperDapp token.

Beyond the AMA, SYS Labs and FortKnoxster will provide updates on the partnership and the security solutions it will provide to the cryptocurrency, blockchain, and decentralized social marketplace communities.

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Retail holders are aggressively accumulating Bitcoin: Glassnode

  • Bitcoin shrimps have been aggressive as market participants ride positive sentiment to buy more BTC.
  • Glassnode data shows BTC shrimps’ 30-day net position change has only been higher on 116 other trading days.
  • Bitfinex analysts highlighted on Monday that Bitcoin’s non-zero balance addresses had risen to more than 45 million.

Retail holders, or crypto investors who own less than 10 bitcoin are aggressively adding to their portfolios, according to on-chain data provider Glassnode.

A look at the group of Bitcoin holders collectively termed as “Shrimps” shows that retail participation in the market over the past 30 days has been bettered only on 116 other trading days.

Shrimps with less than 1 BTC hold 1.29 million BTC

According to Glassnode, with BTC price currently below $30k, the Shrimps’ net position change as currently shown on-chain is only below 116 trading days. The cohort that holds less than 10 BTC in their wallets has a current 30-day change of 37 BTC/month. The total supply held by the cohort is 1.29 million BTC.

“We can assess the 30d change to the supply held by the Shrimp class (< 1 BTC) to evaluate the intensity of retail participation. Currently, only 116 days have recorded a larger 30d change, suggesting retail participants are aggressively accumulating,” Glassnode tweeted.

Chart showing Bitcoin Shrimps net position change. Source: Glassnode

The platform had previously pointed to overall aggressiveness in the market, with the intensity of shrimp accumulation following Bitcoin’s recent price surge. BTC rising to highs near $29,000 in March had seen bullish projections for price to retest the $30,000 level amid a new macro uptrend.

On Monday, crypto exchange Bitfinex released its Bitfiniex Alpha report, which we highlighted today. In the report, analysts pointed to growing demand for BTC among small investors, with those addresses with non-zero balances hitting a record 45.388 at the end of last month.

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Voyager wants Binance.US legal fight resolved by April 13

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.

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