RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded higher on Monday, rising by 1.26 percent to $21,472.04 as of 8:00 a.m. Riyadh time.
Ethereum, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $1,607.87 rising by 1.49 percent, according to data from Coindesk.
Large Ethereum mining pool has stopped mining Ether PoW
Ethermine, the world’s largest ETH mining pool, will shut down ETH mining once The Merge is complete, Bitcoin.com reported.
Ethereum is currently transitioning to a proof-of-stake network by Sept. 15, Bitcoin.com added.
Following The Merge, cryptocurrency miners have been left to guess where to go.
With 262.79 terahashes per second dedicated to Ethereum, Ethermine is the world’s largest ethereum mining pool, Bitcoin.com said.
According to today’s mining pool statistics, the pool commands 127.48 TH/s compared to F2pool, the second largest ethereum mining pool.
Ethermine said: “The mining phase of Ethereum will come to an end on the 15th of September 2022. After this date, it will no longer be possible to mine ether on the Ethereum network using graphic cards or ASICs.”
“As a consequence of this transition, the Ethermine Ethereum mining pool will switch to withdrawal-only mode once the Proof-of-Work mining phase has ended,” Bitcoin.com added.
Regulatory ramp-up in Australia for crypto tokens
To better understand and regulate the cryptocurrency industry, Australia is reviewing its assets, Bloomberg reported.
In a statement released on Monday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement that the government would prioritize “token mapping” to determine which digital asset tokens are being used in Australia and how they should be regulated.
He added that a public consultation paper would be released shortly on the matter.
In addition to reviewing organizational structures and custody obligations for third-party custodians of crypto assets, Chalmers said the new Labor government will look into gaps in Australia’s regulatory and licensing frameworks, Bloomberg reported. Additional consumer safeguards would also be considered.
“With the increasingly widespread proliferation of crypto assets — to the extent that crypto advertisements can be seen plastered all over big sporting events — we need to make sure customers engaging with crypto are adequately informed and protected,” he said.
In October 2021, an Australian parliamentary committee reported that national and international regulators lacked standard definitions and classifications of digital currencies, Bloomberg said.
As part of its plans to regulate and license the cryptocurrency industry ahead of its election loss in May, the former government under Prime Minister Scott Morrison had outlined a framework for doing so.