What is Bitcoin mining, and how does it work?

Emiliano Grodzki, co-founder and CEO of Canadian Bitcoin mining company Bitfarms, has resigned, according to a press release on Dec. 29. Emiliano Grodzki and Nicolas Bonta founded the mining company in 2017. As reported, Grodzki will remain as a director, whereas Bonta will become board chairman. Following Grodzki’s resignation, President and Chief Operating Officer Geoffrey Morphy has been elevated to the CEO position. (cryptoslate)

Galaxy Digital Holdings CEO Mike Novogratz has called the Helios mining deal a “transformative acquisition” for the firm as it works to increase its exposure to the Bitcoin mining sector. The crypto investment firm’s $65 million acquisition of Argo Blockchain’s flagship mining facility was announced on Dec. 28 as part of Argo’s drastic action to stave off bankruptcy. (Cointelegraph)

Bitcoin mining firm Bitfarm promoted Geoffrey Morphy to the position of CEO after Emiliano Grodzki resigned from the post.

Bitcoin’s hashrate has jumped from the low 170 exahash per second (EH/s) recorded this week, to above the 300 exahash range after a number of bitcoin mining operations from Texas temporarily went offline on Dec. 25, 2022. Furthermore, three-day hashrate distribution statistics recorded on Dec. 29, 2022 indicate that two mining pools command more than 50% of the global hashrate.

London-based Bitcoin miner Argo Blockchain PLC’s stock price spiked by more than 100% during U.K. trading hours on Wednesday and closed up 73.33% on the London Stock Exchange after the company announced it would sell its Texas-based Helios facility to Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd, a financial services and investment management firm led by billionaire investor Mike Novogratz. (forkast)

Bitcoin’s (BTC) hash rate fell 13% on Dec. 27 to 202.17 EH/s from around 240 EH/s recorded on Dec. 26.

Publicly listed Bitcoin miners sold off almost all of the Bitcoin they mined throughout 2022, leading to a debate over whether the sales created "a persistent headwind" for the Bitcoin price or not. Analyst Tom Dunleavy from blockchain research firm Messari shared the data in a Dec. 26 tweet, indicating that approximately 40,300 of the 40,700 BTC mined by Core Scientific, Riot, Bitfarms, Cleans Park, Marathon, Hut8, HIVE, Iris Energy, Argo and Bit Digital from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30 was sold off. (Cointelegraph)

Bitcoin ASIC miners — machines optimized for the sole purpose of mining Bitcoin — are currently selling at bottom-of-the-barrel prices not seen since 2020 and 2021, in what is being viewed as another sign of a deepened crypto bear market.

Major cryptocurrency mining pool BTC.com has suffered a cyberattack resulting in a significant loss of funds by the company and its customers.