Renewable Bitcoin mining firm Iris Energy is set to increase its total hash rate to 10 exahash per second (EH/s) in 2024 by acquiring new Bitmain T21 mining rigs.

The company announced that it had acquired an additional 1.6EH/s of Bitmain T21 miners, set for delivery in the second quarter of 2024. The company currently has 5.6 EH/s of operational capacity as of Dec. 2023.

The newest generation of Chinese manufacturer Bitmain’s mining hardware will also improve the efficiency of Iris’ operations from 29.5 joules per terahash (J/TH) to 24.8 J/TH. Iris invested $22.3 million in the latest order from Bitmain, pricing the hardware at $14 per terahash.

Related: Iris Energy to nearly triple…

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The COVID-19 pandemic, rampant inflation and regional conflicts directly influenced Bitcoin’s (BTC) drop in value over the past two years. However, 2024 promises to be a resurgent period, according to Blockstream CEO Adam Back.

The cryptographer, who pioneered the proof-of-work algorithm applied in Bitcoin’s protocol, tells Cointelegraph that the preeminent cryptocurrency is trailing below the historical price trend line of previous mining reward-halving events.

“Biblical” events hurt Bitcoin

Back weighed in on the potential price action of Bitcoin as the next halving, which will see Bitcoin miners’ block reward reduced by 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, looms in April 2024. Block rewards…

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The financial services firm First Trust is the latest company to file for a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), and not for a spot one.

First Trust on Dec. 14 submitted a Form N1-A filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a new Bitcoin-linked product called the First Trust Bitcoin Buffer ETF.

According to the prospectus, the fund is designed to participate in the positive price returns — before fees and expenses — of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust or another exchange-traded product (ETP) that seeks to provide exposure to the performance of Bitcoin.

Unlike a spot Bitcoin ETF, which is linked to the performance of Bitcoin, a buffer ETF uses…

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OpenAI has opened applications for the second cohort of its six-week program for artificial intelligence (AI) startups, Converge 2, through which it will invest $1 million into each of the 15 successful participants selected. 

The organization behind ChatGPT announced that the initiative, accessible worldwide, is aimed at individuals like engineers, designers, researchers, and product builders utilizing AI for innovative purposes. OpenAI founded the Startup Fund on the idea that robust AI systems will fuel a new era of groundbreaking startups.

The rapid proliferation of AI tools and solutions has ignited support from industry experts and investors alike. Generative AI startups have…

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Crypto stealth addresses, explained

The purpose of crypto stealth addresses is to enable privacy for each transaction, concealing the recipient’s identity and transaction history.

Crypto stealth addresses are a privacy-enhancing feature in blockchain technology that lets users receive money anonymously. Unlike conventional public addresses, stealth addresses provide distinct, one-time addresses for every transaction. The recipient’s actual address is kept secret when a sender transfers funds using a stealth address; the transaction is broadcast to the network. 

The recipient does not directly generate a private key from the stealth…

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While a large majority of enterprises are adopting crypto solutions, these institutional players also recognize the challenges of adopting this new technology, according to a new report.

Crypto firm Paxos surveyed 400 executives from United States-based financial services companies with at least five million users and $50 billion in assets under management or $50 billion annual payments volume. 

The crypto firm published the results in its “2023 Enterprise Digital Asset Adoption Report,” showing that financial services firms are still deeply interested in digital assets and blockchain technology. 

According to the survey, 99% of the respondents indicated that their company is putting…

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