China Crackdown Leads To Bitcoin Algorithm Adjustment, Mining Becomes More Profitable: CNBC

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  • The Bitcoin BTC/USD algorithms have adjusted as China cracked down on cryptocurrency mining, CNBC reports.
  • On Saturday, the Bitcoin algorithm adjusted, helping the miners to remain productive by increasing earnings. 
  • The bitcoin algorithm is programmed to handle an increase or decrease in mining machines.
  • "All bitcoin miners share in the same economics and are mining on the same network, so miners both public and private will see the uplift in revenue," Kevin Zhang, vice president of crypto mining firm Foundry, told CNBC.
  • Zhang estimates revenues of $29 per day for those using the latest-generation Bitmain miner versus $22 per day before the change.
  • For the first time in the bitcoin network's history, we have a complete shutdown of mining in a targeted geographic region that affected more than 50% of the network," CNBC quoted Darin Feinstein, founder of Blockcap and Core Scientific saying.
  • China contributed 65% to Bitcoin's hash rate, but that saw a massive drop after China's crackdown on mining.
  • More than 50% of the hash rate has dropped off the network since its market peak in May.
  • With the crackdown, the bitcoin network has slowed down to 14- to 19-minute block times.
  • On mining machines, CNBC quoted Mike Colyer, CEO of digital currency company Foundry, saying, "It is a self-regulating market that does not require any outside committee to determine what to do. This is a very powerful concept." 
  • Bitcoin leverages the SHA-256 Cryptographic Hash Algorithm, and it requires a certain number of zeroes to unlock the block.
  • To find a hash that starts with nineteen zeroes, miners use chips or GPUs to make the mathematical process as fast as possible.
  • Price Action: At press time, Bitcoin is up 3.94% at $34,612.89.
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