Some Bitcoin mining shares make gains in week after halving — in spite of slashed rewards

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Some Bitcoin miners make gains after halving

Bitcoin’s halving concluded last weekend, and surprisingly, some miners’ share prices rose this week in spite of block rewards being slashed by half, the Motley Fool reported.

Riot Platforms was the biggest beneficiary, jumping as much as 36.3% during the week, while Marathon Digital rose as much as 20.1%, and Cipher Mining 20.3%, the report said.

As DL News has previously reported, the halving may serve to trigger an eventual consolidation of the mining industry, as well-capitalised outlets acquire the distressed assets of their less efficient rivals.

Bigger market share spread among fewer competitors could mean more profits, especially if Bitcoin prices were to increase, the Motley Fool said, adding that halvings occur every four years, and in the past they’ve been accompanied by higher prices.

But while increased market share may be positive, the report noted, the miners still need to profit on the spread between their costs and the price of Bitcoin.

The report added that some miners may have been undervalued after experiencing declines in the weeks leading up to the halving, helping enable a swift recovery this past week.

Senators say crypto used to pay for child abuse material

Two US senators, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), sent a bipartisan open letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas regarding the use of crypto in the illegal trade of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

“The pseudonymity provided by cryptocurrency has allowed the payments for CSAM to ‘move quickly into the crypto world,’ and we are committed to ensuring that Congress and the Administration have the full suite of tools needed to end CSAM and punish sellers of this material,” the senators wrote, citing a report by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children and numerous other sources.

Warren and Cassidy set a May 10 deadline for the departments to respond to their letter.

Eminem advertisement on X promotes Crypto.com

Marshall Mathers, better known as rapper Eminem, posted an advertisement for his 22 million followers on social media platform X touting crypto exchange Crypto.com in which he portrays a cage fighter training and then taking to the octagon.

The ad opens with an exterior shot of Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and finishes with the words “Fortune favors the brave,” harking back to a similar Matt Damon ad from 2021.

“Fortune favors the brave,” or bold, is an English translation of a Latin proverb dating back at least to Roman poet Virgil’s “Aeneid,” completed in 19 BC.