2023-10-12 15:05

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Sphere 3D Corp., a net carbon-neutral cryptocurrency miner, has reported a significant surge in productivity for its Bitcoin mining operation for September 2023. The company, under the leadership of CEO Patricia Trompeter, mined 63.6 Bitcoins, marking a 9.1% increase from August and a year-over-year (YoY) rise of 473%. The company's operating hash rate was consistent at 1.3 EH/s, representing a substantial YoY growth of 13X. Mining efficiency stood at 84.0 BTC/EH with an uptime of 66%, impacted by high temperatures at several sites. These results culminated in mining revenues of $1.7 million from approximately 12,450 deployed miners. The surge in productivity is attributed to reduced curtailments at the cooler mining sites, with further gains anticipated during the winter months due to lower temperature curtailments. In addition to its mining success, Sphere 3D is currently involved in a legal dispute with Core Scientific over breach of contract and conversion claims following Core's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Despite Core's attempt to dismiss Sphere's claims summarily, the bankruptcy court denied the motion, setting up a merits hearing for early 2024. Simultaneously, Sphere abruptly ended its Master Services Agreement with Gryphon Digital Mining in October 2023. The reasons for this termination have not been disclosed. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/sphere-3d-sees-surge-in-bitcoin-mining-amid-legal-tussle-with-core-scientific-93CH-3197459

2023-10-12 14:24

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters Fidelity Investments released a report on Thursday, emphasizing Bitcoin's unique and superior position in the cryptocurrency market. The report, titled "Bitcoin First Revisited", identified Bitcoin as a distinct digital asset and a "monetary good", outperforming gold and fiat currency in most characteristics associated with "good money". The report underlined several attributes of Bitcoin that make it a superior form of money, including durability, divisibility, fungibility, portability, verifiability, scarcity, decentralization, and being governed by open-source code. It also highlighted Bitcoin's finite nature with a 21 million supply cap, enforced by the original Bitcoin source code and adhered to by network participants. Fidelity acknowledged Bitcoin's short track record due to its novelty as a limitation. However, it firmly refuted the idea of Bitcoin being replaced by a superior cryptocurrency. The report asserted that Bitcoin's success doesn't diminish the role of other cryptocurrencies that cater to diverse investor needs. The investment firm concluded with the prediction that Bitcoin could potentially become the primary monetary good in the future. This assertion makes it clear that Fidelity sees Bitcoin as more than just a payment technology. Its secure and decentralized nature makes it an appealing investment option for investors looking to diversify their portfolios with digital assets. The report underscores Fidelity's belief in Bitcoin's unique value proposition as a secure, decentralized digital currency. It also demonstrates the growing recognition of cryptocurrency’s potential within traditional financial institutions. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoins-unique-position-solidified-says-fidelity-report-93CH-3197427

2023-10-12 14:08

The XRP cryptocurrency market seems to be stabilizing following a period of volatility. On Thursday, Whale Alert reported a significant movement of 54.7 million XRP to Bitso and Bitstamp from unknown wallets. This comes amidst a continuous price drop to $0.478, marking the sixth consecutive day of losses. This downturn in price and reversal of gains followed rulings against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Judge Torres on July 13, 2023. The rulings had initially caused XRP's price to double and established it as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency. Despite this recent turbulence, there is evidence that the XRP market is stabilizing. Despite reduced activity from large holders, or "whales," on the XRP Ledger, wallets holding between 100,000 and 100 million XRP still own 26.8% of the supply. These wallets participate in an average of 400 large transactions weekly, each over $100,000. Furthermore, the total value held in these wallets has increased to $7.89 billion from $7.16 billion last year. This increase brings the XRP market back to the same level it was before Judge Torres' judgment in July. Overall, while recent events have caused some fluctuations in the XRP market, it appears to be returning to a state of stability. The continued presence of large holders and an increase in the total value held suggest that confidence in this cryptocurrency remains strong despite short-term price drops. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/xrp-market-stabilizes-despite-price-drop-and-whale-activity-93CH-3197411

2023-10-12 11:59

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com - US crude stockpiles jumped more than 10 million barrels last week, their most in eight months, as exports tumbled and refineries slowed processing of oil amid maintenance, while output from the world’s largest producer of the commodity hit a new record high of 13.2 million barrels per day, government data showed on Thursday. The US crude inventory balance rose by 10.176 million barrels during the week to Oct. 6, the most since a weekly rise of 16.283M in mid-February, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report of the Energy Information Administration, or EIA. In the prior week to Sept. 29, crude inventories saw a draw of 2.224M barrels. Industry analysts tracked by Investing.com had predicted a crude draw of 1.4M barrels instead for last week. US crude production jumps 300,000 barrels daily to reach record high But more riveting than that crude inventory spike was the EIA’s estimate of crude production in the just-ended week, which the agency put at 13.2M barrels per day — up 300,000 from the prior week. It was the highest ever government estimate on crude production, which prior to this had not exceeded the 13.1M peak reached just before the March 2020 outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic that decimated crude demand. The EIA has been estimating higher crude production for the United States in recent months, citing higher efficiency in output at US shale oil basin despite a sheer cutback in the number of oil rigs actively deployed by drillers. “It’s staggering how far US oil production has come in just a few months this year to reach this record high cited by the EIA,” said John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital. Crude exports slow after hitting peak in Q3 As for crude stockpiles, they ballooned last week as exports, often a juggernaut in the weekly EIA report, fell almost 2 million barrels to reach 3.067M per day versus the 4.956M per day level during the week to Sept. 29. Crude exports hit a record high just shy of 4 million barrels per day in the first half of the year, the EIA said in a separate report on Wednesday. Processing of crude oil into fuel and other products also dropped last week, by almost 2%, to 85.7% as refineries went into maintenance. “It’s the combination of lower exports and lower refinery runs that led to this humongous build in crude stockpiles,” observed Kilduff. While crude stocks rose, inventories of gasoline fell last week after the biggest build in nearly two years the prior. Gasoline stockpiles fell by 1.313 million barrels last week versus a forecast drop of 1.0M and the prior week’s build of 6.481M. Gasoline is the No. 1 US fuel product. Distillates inventories also fell by 1.837M last week, more than the forecast 1.0M and adding to the previous drop of 1.269M. Distillates are refined into heating oil, diesel for trucks, buses, trains and ships and fuel for jets. https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/us-oil-production-at-record-high-crude-stocks-up-102m-barrels-last-week--eia-3197318

2023-10-12 11:57

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. The US dollar, which had been weakening due to anticipated rate cuts in the midst of peak long-dated rates, rebounded on Thursday, driven by robust economic indicators. The Q4 Consumer Price Index (CPI) annualized at 3.79%, as reported by the Cleveland Fed's nowcast, played a significant role in this turnaround. This shift in strength ended the British pound's six-day winning streak against the USD. The strong indicators also led to an increase in US 10-year yields by 6.7% to 4.66%. This surge wiped out the gains that the cable (GBP/USD exchange rate) had seen earlier in the week on Tuesday and Wednesday. The anticipation of rate cuts had initially led to a weakening of the US dollar. However, the release of strong Q4 CPI data triggered a reversal in this trend, demonstrating the sensitivity of currency markets to macroeconomic indicators. The rise in US 10-year yields further underscores this point, highlighting the interconnectedness of global financial markets. While the pound had been performing well against the USD for nearly a week, this run was halted by the robust performance of the US dollar. This serves as a reminder of the volatility inherent in currency exchange rates and their susceptibility to shifts in economic indicators and market sentiment. https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/us-dollar-rebounds-on-strong-q4-economic-indicators-ends-pounds-streak-93CH-3197324

2023-10-12 06:53

In a significant strategic move, Poland's state energy company Orlen has acquired Gazprom (MCX:GAZP)'s stake in the Yamal pipeline, spanning 684 km across Poland. The acquisition, valued at 787 million zloty ($184 million), was approved by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) on Thursday. This development is part of Poland's larger strategy to end all Russian energy imports by 2022, marking its independence from Russian gas since that year. The Yamal pipeline was previously owned by EuRoPol Gaz, a joint venture between PGNiG and Gazprom. However, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Poland temporarily seized Gazprom's assets, including its stake in the pipeline. Despite Gazprom cutting off oil imports in February 2023, Orlen's CEO Daniel Obajtek underscored this acquisition as a vital step towards public interest, security, and an end to Russian gas flows in the Polish transit system. In response to Russia's invasion into Ukraine, Poland strategically ousted Gazprom from the Yamal Pipeline to reduce dependency on Russian gas supplies. Orlen assumed full control by taking over Gazprom's 48% stake in Europol Gaz. As a result of imposed sanctions since May 2022, the pumping of Russian gas came to a halt. Poland then altered its strategy by operating the pipeline in reverse mode. This allowed for importing gas from Germany for domestic use and exporting excess supplies back to Germany. This shift has been crucial for Poland's public interest and security. Due to a sanctions law from April 2022, the transaction funds will be frozen in a special bank account and will not be directed towards Gazprom. https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/orlen-takes-control-of-yamal-pipeline-ousts-gazprom-93CH-3196938