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Someone Actually Built A Hot Tub That’s Heated By Mining Bitcoin

Just yesterday, Elon Musk replied to a tweet that suggested that a hot tub should be created that gets its heat by mining Dogecoin.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk replied to this tweet saying that it was a “great idea”, and now a video has surfaced online of a man that has actually done it, but with a Bitcoin miner. The video was published on Twitter by Jesse Peltan, and it shows a Bitcoin miner submerged in water, seemingly heating his hot tub up for a nice dip.

Peltan has even managed to hook up Alexa to the hot tub dubbed SPA-256 HotTub, so its jets can be activated via voice command. Peltan goes on to say that the pump for the jets is on a Wi-Fi-controlled switch, which is why Alexa can be connected to it. Elon Musk was tagged in the post by Documenting Bitcoin, and he applauded the work done by Peltan by saying, “Nice”.

Last Week In Bitcoin: Billionaires, Texas, And Mining

Last Week In Bitcoin is a new segment covering the week that occurred in Bitcoin, with all the important bits and some analysis.

Summary

Despite what the charts and current price may say, last week was a bullish week in Bitcoin. Billionaire Ray Dalio confirmed he is holding bitcoin, activist investor and former bitcoin doom prophet Carl Icahn expressed interest in pursuing crypto in a “big way” and Texas pushed through a bill that will provide a legal framework for bitcoin in the state, paving the way for Texas to become a crypto hub. China and Iran cracked down on bitcoin mining for the umpteenth time, and prominent investors Elon Musk and Michael Saylor announced formation of their Bitcoin Mining Council.

HighlightsA Chart To Consider

The chart above, courtesy of Bloomberg’s Global Macro Investor platform, compares bitcoin’s performance between 2010 and 2013 to between 2016 and now. As you can clearly see, we’re still overdue for a decent bull run which could likely peak somewhere around $400,000.

Of course, there are a lot more eyes on bitcoin this time around compared to a decade ago. The fear, uncertainty and doubt has increased as the media, billionaires, and many others pile on the anti-crypto sentiment. As we’ve seen over the years, bitcoin is a global community and its sole focus is a decentralized financial system where the power is in the hands of the people. Some might say even negative news is good news as it will introduce new people to the idea of bitcoin, and as they research it they may very likely decide to invest themselves.

Bullish: Short Term

Prominent investors are piling into bitcoin almost weekly now. Last week’s news that Ray Dalio holds bitcoin and Carl Icahn is interested also, just reiterates that no one can ignore bitcoin as a logical investment anymore. As prominent investors come on board bitcoin is perceived as even more legitimate to former skeptics which often has a positive effect on the overall price, further fueling bull runs. This current run could likely chart somewhere in the region of $400,000 over the next year, as shown in the chart above, and discussed in my previous piece comparing bitcoin’s performance after each halving. The most recent halving took place last year, kicking off the current bull market.

Bearish: Long Term

In an almost ironic twist, my reasons for being bearish long-term are almost the same as why I am bearish short-term. Billionaire investors and public companies joining the bitcoin bandwagon is both good and bad for price action. If bitcoin does eventually hit anywhere close to $400,000, the billionaires are likely to liquidate their positions with a fat short-term profit in hand. Similarly, public companies having seen a tremendous return on investment will likely see activist investors push to sell their holdings and pay out dividends to investors. Microstrategy should be safe as Michael Saylor controls most of the voting rights, but what about the rest of the publicly traded companies?

Verdict

I have little doubt that the current dip-intensive market we’re seeing is bitcoin finding its new bottom and stabilizing before the next boom. Yes, there will likely be several 20-30% dips before bitcoin hits its next peak, as seen during the 2017 bull run. However, as more and more people and companies embrace bitcoin as the future of the financial system, the price should reflect the same.

It’s important to keep a watchful eye on Texas and its lawmakers. As the state opens up to a more favourable legal framework, it is likely to invite investors and companies alike to relocate to Texas.This should act as inspiration for more states perhaps even some countries to follow suit and embrace bitcoin. View Texas as a trial run for now, but it is likely the start of big things to follow.

The effort to ban or curb bitcoin mining by some countries is another cause for concern, especially considering how much of the bitcoin hashrate is coming from China. Yes, on a positive note this should spread our mining operations worldwide, which will have the positive effect of creating a more decentralized hashrate. On the other hand, the formation of the Bitcoin Mining Council is also cause for concern, as it’s pushing a form of centralisation onto bitcoin mining.Should more miners move operations to the US and join this council, the possibility of a new form of centralization of power in the mining community looms.

What I haven’t mentioned above, is an important piece of information that came to light this week – Apple’s interest in hiring an executive with crypto experience. Some may speculate that Apple could be preparing a currency of its own, however this is unlikely. The more likely scenario is that they are opening up to bringing Bitcoin and other crypto payments onto their Apple Pay platform, and likely allowing crypto for app payments and acquiring devices. This would be very bullish. It is unlikely however that Apple will use some of their nearly $200 billion cash stockpile to invest in Bitcoin.

Overall, my sentiment is that this is the ideal time to stack some sats and build your holdings. The market is stabilizing, and even if there are a few more dips over the next week a bull run is imminent.

This is a guest post by Dion Guillaume. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. Or Bitcoin Magazine.

Crypto Exchanges Pull Services To Chinese Customers, Mining Updates: Blockheads

News of Chinese officials signaling a crackdown on Bitcoin mining continues to ripple through China’s crypto world. Officials in Sichuan province will hold a meeting to decide whether they will regulate mining. Meanwhile, crypto exchanges are closing off Chinese users from some of their services. One exchange, Binance, translated some website pages from simplified to traditional Chinese to turn away mainland Chinese users. A Chinese government official said that China’s digital yuan could one day be plugged into the Ethereum blockchain.

Blockchainheadlines

The world of blockchain moves fast, and nowhere does it move faster than China. Here’s what you need to know about China’s block-world in the week of May 26-June 1.

Crypto mining 

China’s crypto mining industry is anxiously waiting to see how local officials will carry out a crackdown on bitcoin mining ordered by a State Council committee meeting on May 21 led by Vice Premier Liu He. 

Government officials in Sichuan province will hold a meeting on June 2 to examine the effect of mining on the region’s hydroelectricity consumption before making any regulatory moves. (The Block)

Prices of Bitmain’s newest crypto mining rig, the Antminer S19, have dropped 30% from their previous high of $12,000. The supply of mining rigs on Alibaba’s second-hand marketplace has increased. (Wu Blockchain)

Meanwhile, a May 29 story about a crypto mining facility in the UK that was busted for illegally tapping into the national grid has gone viral on China’s Twitter-like Weibo. The related hashtag has been viewed 210 million times as of the time of writing.

Despite power outages and the announcement of a mining crackdown, China still accounted for 70% of the global Bitcoin hashrate, said crypto research firm Elliptic. Hashrate is a measure of the computing power on the bitcoin network. (Sina Finance, in Chinese) This topic has been viewed over 1 million times on Weibo. 

READ MORE: INSIGHTS | A turning point for China crypto?

No more high-leverage crypto trading? 

Crypto trading platforms continue to cut off service to Chinese users following the State Council’s announcement on a mining crackdown, particularly from derivatives trading like perpetual contracts. 

Chinese state news agency Xinhua published an article criticizing high-leverage crypto futures trading on May 29. It said those contracts gave investors the illusion of hedging risks, but can “cause people to lose their life’s savings” in a volatile market. (Xinhua)

Binance changed all simplified Chinese language on its website related to perpetual contracts and leverage to traditional Chinese, Chinese journalist Colin Wu reported on May 31. Mainland Chinese primarily use simplified Chinese, while people in Hong Kong and Taiwan use traditional Chinese. Most simplified users can read traditional. (Wu Blockchain Twitter)

Bitmart will suspend perpetual contracts trading for mainland users starting June 3, the crypto exchange said on May 31. Perpetual contracts are a type of derivative trade that have no expiration date. (Wu Blockchain Twitter)

MXC, another Chinese crypto exchange popular for altcoin trading, will suspend margin trading and futures for new users from some regions. Wu said this will include China. (Wu Blockchain Twitter)

READ MORE: Crypto mining armageddon? Blockheads

Digital yuan on blockchain

Yao Qian, Director of the Science and Technology Regulatory Bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission said at a late May speech that China’s digital currency could run on blockchain networks like Ethereum, which would enable better financial inclusion. 

Before 2018, Yao was involved in the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP), the project under which the digital yuan is developed, while it was still in its early stages, when he worked at the People’s Bank of China.

“We can imagine that if digital dollars and digital yen run directly on blockchain networks such as Ethereum and Diem, then central banks can use their BaaS [blockchain as a service] services to directly provide users with central bank digital currencies without the need for intermediaries. Layered operations can enable the central bank’s digital currency to better benefit groups without bank accounts and achieve financial inclusion.”