Integration signals in the Bitcoin mining landscape

The difficulty of Bitcoin mining has risen by 0.5% since June 1, indicating an extraordinary slowdown in network expansion. Mining difficulty has increased by just 16% since the start of the year, according to a post on the Mining Infrastructure Firm Blockware’s X. “2025 is paced to see the slowest growth in BTC history,” added Blockware.

Mining growth continues to slow down due to the following reasons: Mining hardware is at the limits of Moore’s law. This approaches the physical and economic limits of chip miniaturization, making new generations of miners slightly more efficient.

Physical infrastructure and energy production is a bottleneck for growth and to promote scaling of mining and ordering machines. Finally, data center operators are diversifying into AI and high performance computing (HPC).

However, this is bullish for BTC minors. This is because there is less competition for 450 BTC mined daily. As BTC trends are steadily moving towards the six-person figure, miners are positioned in arbitrage energy and calculations, producing BTC at a significant discount on their market value.

Currently hosted on a blockware mining site, the Bitmain S21 XP produces 1 BTC for just $55,000 in electricity costs. This is a huge discount on the market price of BTC. The advantage of BTC mining is its ability to depreciate 100% of hardware costs and create a strong tax offset. When combined with tax benefits and accumulation of BTC, this is how generational wealth is born.

Shift to cleaner energy and sustainable mining

SustainableBTC highlighted X that a Newsweek article in 2017 warned that by 2020 Bitcoin was on track to consume global energy. Furthermore, in 2019, an academic paper reported that emissions from BTC mining alone exceeded global temperatures of 2°C.

Since then, there has been a widespread belief that BTC mining is environmentally harmful. But in reality, BTC mining is a powerful tool in the transition to clean energy and could be a force for climate justice.

In the midst of this broad view, SustainableBTC noted that awareness and advocacy alone is not enough to change the deeply rooted perceptions of BTC mining and sustainability. Moving the industry requires transparent, auditable data, market-based incentives that are consistent with economic performance, and environmental responsibility.

Strike founder Jack Mullers argued in a video shared on X that structurally high Bitcoin prices have emerged as a necessary component of US fiscal management, linking stubcoin growth with US government debt demand. Framing the newly introduced genius stubcoin law as “a critical moment of digital assets and the domination of the world’s dollars,” Mullers said the bill “has nothing to do with Bitcoin.”

Bitcoin and gold must rise to avert the US fiscal crisis

Mullers displayed a chart of Tether’s market capitalization along with the price of Bitcoin, saying, “In Green, Tether, Market Capital, and what you see in Orange is Bitcoin. He then linked that relationship with federal funding. Stubcoin issuers, especially Tether, hold a massive amount of US Treasury. Therefore, the larger Stablecoin float leads to a progressive structural demand for US debt.

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Mullers said he has “confined” the US financially, saying, “We know that the US cannot raise interest rates and can’t cut spending. So we are trapped. The next logical step is that we need to devalue the dollar. That’s the only way.” The policy question he continued is the assets that the dollar should be allowed to oppose. “Don’t deduce dollars against a house…Don’t deduce dollars against an egg…My recommendation, deduce it against Bitcoin and gold.”

Predicting a scenario where Bitcoin will reach $500,000 – “It’s five times from here” – Mullers argued that such a move would “five times” to “five times” and create “five times the demand for US debt,” he said, and that it doesn’t want your debts to be a traditional foreigner and domestic buyers who won’t tire of it.”

He compared the Treasury funding needs, the expansion of the Federal Reserve balance sheet and the positive integrity of the composition of the stubcoin reserve to previous historic episodes.

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At “130%” from US debt to GDP, a substantial reduction in terms of conditions requires a financial collapse led to politically acceptable assets inflation. He extended the story to politics, highlighting policy moves such as “the president and his family just bought $2 billion worth of Bitcoin” and “the US retirement market to Crypto Investments.”

Mallers said that placing Bitcoin and Gold in a retirement account allows policymakers to “base the dollar and re-election.”

He came to the conclusion by modifying the mechanisms he thinks are emerging from the bill. “Stubcoin is a new way to fund the government, but it grows as Bitcoin grows. One way to grow stubcoin is to grow Bitcoin.

At the time of pressing, BTC was traded for $118,055.

Featured images created with dall.e, charts on tradingview.com

LTCBTC Spike Fizzles After Bitcoin Dominance Rebounds

According to CRYPTOWZRD, Litecoin and its BTC pair (LTCBTC) both ended the day with bearish daily candle closes, signaling potential short-term weakness. Despite showing some upward momentum earlier in the day, the broader market conditions shifted, impacting Litecoin’s price action significantly.

LTCBTC experienced a brief spike, primarily triggered by a drop in Bitcoin dominance. This short-lived move created a temporary window for bullish momentum in Litecoin. However, the gains were not sustained, and much of the spike was quickly retraced as Bitcoin dominance began to rebound.

As Bitcoin regained strength, Litecoin’s price action closely mirrored the movements of BTC and LTCBTC. This correlation led Litecoin to test the $112 resistance level once more, but the rejection at that zone caused it to lose ground and slide back toward the $96 support region.

CRYPTOWZRD noted that any significant upside for Litecoin will likely depend on LTCBTC turning bullish again, a move that typically coincides with a drop in Bitcoin dominance. Until that shift occurs, the path higher remains uncertain, and traders may need to remain cautious of potential downside pressure. For now, the expert’s focus is shifting to lower timeframes, where he aims to identify short-term formations for scalping opportunities. 

Volatility Expected To Increase Near Key Levels For Litecoin

CRYPTOWZRD concluded his analysis by noting that the intraday chart for Litecoin showed a clear bearish structure throughout the day. Price action lacked strength, and any upward movement was quickly met with resistance. This points to ongoing uncertainty in the short term, with sellers still maintaining some control.

Looking ahead, he emphasized that a clean reversal and reclaim of the $102 resistance zone could shift momentum. If Litecoin manages to hold above that level, it may open the door for a push toward the $112 resistance area. 

As his final verdict, CRYPTOWZRD warned that if Bitcoin doesn’t provide a strong directional move soon, Litecoin could continue to trade sideways with choppy volatility over the weekend. In the meantime, patience is key — traders should wait for a more mature, high-probability setup before entering new positions.

A guaranteed income pilot program is launching in one US county amid rising cases of homelessness.

The program, known as Stabilize Families, is backed by the nonprofit RISE Together Innovation Institute and the Community Shelter Board in Franklin County, Ohio, reports The Columbus Dispatch.

The Community Shelter Board will give 80 families a one-off cash handout of $1,500, while RISE Together Innovation Institute will offer monthly payments of $500 to 20 families for 11 months.

Data collected by the Community Shelter Board reportedly shows homelessness in Franklin County in 2024 went up six times faster than the population growth. As of January 23rd, according to the report, there were 2,556 homeless people in the Ohio county, up by 7.4% from 2024.

Community Shelter Board’s president and CEO Shannon Isom says the guaranteed income pilot program is “about dignity” and will give the beneficiaries “breathing room to stabilize, plan, and dream again.”

The report cites RISE Together Innovation Institute’s CEO Danielle Sydnor saying,

“Guaranteed income is a viable strategy to promote economic stability and well-being for residents in Franklin County.”

According to the report, Ohio State University will be involved in the guaranteed income pilot program and will conduct research on the project’s impact on beneficiaries and the community.

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Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent stability amid Nasdaq turmoil driven by tariffs has generated excitement among market participants regarding the cryptocurrency’s potential as a haven asset.

Still, the bulls might want to keep an eye on the bond market, where dynamics that characterized the COVID crash of March 2020 may be emerging.

Nasdaq, Wall Street’s tech-heavy index known to be positively correlated to bitcoin, has dropped 11% since President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced reciprocal tariffs on 180 nations, escalating trade tensions and drawing retaliatory levies from China.

Other U.S. indices and global markets have also taken a beating alongside sharp losses in the risk currencies like the Australian dollar and a pullback in gold.

BTC has largely remained stable, continuing to trade above $80,000, and its resilience is being viewed as a sign of its evolution into a macro hedge.

“The S&P 500 is down roughly 5% this week as investors brace for trade-driven earnings headwinds. Bitcoin, meanwhile, has shown impressive resilience,” David Hernandez, crypto investment specialist at 21Shares, told CoinDesk in an email. “After briefly dipping below $82,000, it rebounded quickly, reinforcing its status as a macro hedge in times of macroeconomic stress. Its relative strength could continue to attract institutional inflows if broad market volatility persists.”

The perception of stability could quickly transform into a self-fulfilling prophecy, solidifying BTC’s position as a haven asset for years to come, as MacroScope noted on X.

Treasury basis trade risks

However, sharp downside volatility in the short term cannot be ruled out, especially as the “Treasury market basis trade” faces risks due to heightened turbulence in bond prices.

The basis trade involves highly leveraged hedge funds, reportedly operating at leverage ratios of 50-to-1, exploiting minor price discrepancies between Treasury futures and securities. This trade blew up in mid-March 2020 as coronavirus threatened to derail the global economy, leading to a “dash for cash” that saw investors sell almost every asset for dollar liquidity. On March 12, 2020, BTC fell by nearly 40%.

“When market volatility spikes – as it is now – it unearths highly leveraged carry trades vulnerable to big market moves. The blowup in the US Treasury market in March 2020, which disrupted basis carry trades, is a recent example. Risk of leveraged carry trade blowups is high…,” Robin Brooks, managing director and chief economist at the International Institute of Finance,” wrote to CoinDesk in an email.

The risk is real because, the size of the basis trade as of March end was $1 trillion, double the tally in March 2020. The positioning is such that a one basis point move in Treasury yields (which move opposite to prices) would lead to a $600 million shift in the value of their bets, according to ZeroHedge.

So, increased volatility in the Treasury yields could cause a COVID-like blowup, leading to a widespread selling of all assets, including bitcoin, to obtain cash.

On Friday, the MOVE index, which represents the options-based implied or expected 30-day volatility in the U.S. Treasury market, jumped 12% to 125.70, the highest since Nov. 4, according to data source TradingView.

The gravity of the situation is underscored by a recent Brookings Institution paper, which advises the Federal Reserve to consider targeted interventions in the U.S. Treasury market, specifically supporting hedge funds engaged in basis trading during times of severe market stress.

Let’s see how things unfold in the week ahead.

Finance officials in the European Union are concerned US President Donald Trump’s embrace of digital assets could affect Europe’s monetary sovereignty and financial stability.

“The US administration is favorable toward cryptocurrencies and especially dollar-denominated stablecoins, which may raise certain concerns in Europe,” European Stability Mechanism (ESM) managing director Pierre Gramegna said at a Eurogroup press conference on March 10. 

Gramegna cautioned that the US crypto pivot “could eventually reignite foreign and US tech giants’ plans to launch mass payment solutions based on dollar-denominated stablecoin,” adding, “And if this were to be successful, it could affect the euro area’s monetary sovereignty and financial stability.”  

The ESM “supports the ECB’s urgency in making the digital euro a reality to safeguard Europe’s strategic autonomy — this digital euro is today more necessary than ever,” he added.

The ESM is an intergovernmental organization established by member states of the euro area, helping countries overcome financial crises and maintain long-term financial stability and prosperity.

“Policy developments in other jurisdictions can have important consequences for us here in Europe,” concurred Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe. 

“These discussions are fundamentally linked to our own autonomy and to the resilience of our currency,” he added, stating that a European central bank digital currency (CBDC) was now critical to staying ahead of the curve.

In February, the European Central Bank said it was expanding the development of its CBDC payment system to settle transactions between institutions. The ECB has been exploring CBDCs since 2020, including a consumer-facing retail digital euro and wholesale cross-border settlement between central banks.

Meanwhile, Trump has spoken out against a Federal Reserve CBDC, signing an executive order in January to establish a crypto working group while prohibiting the “establishment, issuance, circulation, and use” of a US CBDC. 

Related: Crypto academics slam controversial ECB paper blasting Bitcoin

The ECB has also rejected the idea of adding Bitcoin (BTC) to its monetary reserves or allowing other European central banks to do so. 

In late January, ECB President Christine Lagarde said that the reserves of central banks have to be “liquid, secure and safe,” implying that they would not include crypto assets. 

She added that she was “confident” that Bitcoin would not enter the reserves of banks under the European Council. 

Magazine: Bitcoin’s odds of June highs, SOL’s $485M outflows, and more: Hodler’s Digest

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