比特幣市值重返 1 兆美元，礦機巨頭嘉楠股價飆逾 50%
近日比特幣市值再度回升至 1 兆美元，讓挖礦商機再現動能。9 日，在那斯達克交易所上市的中國礦機大廠嘉楠耘智（Canaan），股價一天內瘋漲逾 50%，明顯受到比特幣價格走高帶動。
Business Insider、CNBC 報導，根據 Coindesk 報價，台北時間 9 日上午，比特幣價格來到 54,000 美元，市值重返 1 兆美元，是繼今年 2 月 19 日後，史上第二次突破 1 兆美元大關。台北時間 10 日上午 7 時 39 分，比特幣價格報 54,694.94 美元，雖然低於歷史高點 58,332.36 美元，但今年累計漲幅達 87.61%，對挖礦概念股是一大利多。
嘉楠耘智 9 日股價飆漲 50.45% 收 28.69 美元，創史上新高收盤價，今年以來累計勁揚 383.81%，而大盤標普 500 指數同期漲幅為 3.18%。
2013 年，嘉楠耘智由董事長兼執行長張楠賡創立，主要生產搭載人工智慧（AI）晶片的比特幣礦機，並以發明全球第一台基於 ASIC（特殊應用晶片）的區塊鏈運算設備而聞名。
過去 6 個月來，嘉楠耘智股價隨著比特幣漲勢一路大漲，漲幅高達 1,000% 以上。去年 9 月，嘉楠耘智的股價僅每股 2 美元左右。
據嘉楠耘智表示，近期獲得來自北美客戶的高額訂單，總計超過 10 萬台比特幣礦機。之前嘉楠耘智的主要客戶群為個體礦工，但 2020 年底時，開始轉攻公開上市公司和比特幣投資基金。
今年 1 月，嘉楠耘智與北美挖礦巨頭 Hive Blockchain 簽署 6,400 台礦機採購訂單，總算力達 576PH/s。
（本文由 MoneyDJ新聞 授權轉載；首圖來源：shutterstock）
The US Government Sold Some Bitcoin – And the Winning Bidder Got a Bargain
A key reason bitcoin‘s price has doubled this year, according to many analysts, is so few holders want to part with the cryptocurrency: “more buyers than sellers,” as the old Wall Street adage goes.
Unless you’re the U.S. government, which this week sold some bitcoin for dollars.
The amount was tiny in relative terms – not even an entire bitcoin, just 0.7501 BTC, worth a little over $40,000. Compare that to the current federal budget deficit, projected during the current fiscal year to exceed the record $3.1 trillion reported for 2020. A veritable drop in the bucket.
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However, the winning bidder got a good deal.
The Washington Post reported the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which held the two-day event that ended on March 17, often holds auctions, usually of surplus federal assets such as office furniture, school buses and aircraft parts.
However, GSA told the Post the federal government has been auctioning bitcoin since 2014, after the FBI shut down the online black market Silk Road and seized more than 170,000 bitcoin in the crackdown.
In this week’s auction, the winning bidder got the bitcoin for $53,104.
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According to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index, the cryptocurrency never fell below $54,200 on Wednesday, and it has since jumped to about $59,000.
The government told the newspaper the auction commanded a premium relative to the market price. The GSA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk.
“Auctioning off this share of cryptocurrency broke new ground for our GSA Auctions platform, and we’re extremely pleased by the enthusiasm we’ve seen from our bidders,” Acting Regional Administrator Kevin Kerns, with GSA’s southeast sunbelt region, said in a statement to the Post.
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Bitcoin uses more energy than American Airlines and each $1 billion in inflows is equal to owning 1.2 million cars, Bank of America says
The bitcoin price has soared in 2021 NurPhoto/Getty Images
Bank of America research shows bitcoin’s immense environmental footprint.
It is one one of the biggest carbon-emitting sectors, on a par with huge firms and even the US federal government.
Other less climate-related concerns include use of bitcoin in cybercrime such as money laundering.
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Bitcoin’s energy consumption is comparable to that of major corporations like American Airlines, which flies over 200 million passengers a year, and even the entire US federal government, which employs 2 million people, according to research on Wby Bank of America.
Each $1 billion in inflows into bitcoin uses the same amount of energy as 1.2 million cars, estimates the report. “Looked at differently, a single Bitcoin purchase at a price of ~$50,000 has a carbon footprint of 270 tons, the equivalent of 60 ICE cars,” Bank of America said in a note published on Wednesday.
Bitcoin’s carbon footprint is directly linked to the price. As the price goes up, so do the resulting emissions, as more crypto miners become involved. In turn, the bitcoin network has to become more complex to cope with the demand and prevent hacking. This then requires more hash power, which drives up energy consumption, the bank said.
“Given the relatively linear relationship between bitcoin prices and bitcoin energy use, it is perhaps no surprise that bitcoin’s estimated energy consumption has grown over 200% in the past two years,” Bank of America said.
Bitcoin uses as much power as a small, developed country like Greece, which has a population of over 10 million people, at a time where most companies and countries are focused on lowering their environmental impact, the bank said.
“Another key concern is that most hash power comes from China, where the government actively encourages bitcoin mining and where electricity costs are very low.
“Nearly 60% of Chinese electrical generation is from coal fired power plants, with less than 20% coming from natural gas or renewables,” Bank of America said. This means most bitcoin mining is fueled by unsustainable fossil fuels.”
Other crypto currencies including Ethereum’s ether token are only slightly less impactful on the environment, the report said. However, the digital currencies proposed by central banks would not have the same negative impact, it added.
Beside the environmental impact, the report also discusses social and governance risks associated with investing in bitcoin, which Bank of America says should not be underestimated.
Democratisation and decentralisation of money have value, “But negatives outweigh. Anonymity aids nefarious activities,” it said.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said on numerous occasions one of her concerns around cryptocurrencies is their use in criminal online activity, including money laundering.
The report also provides a wider assessment of Bitcoin, coming to the conclusion that the main reason for investing into Bitcoin is its price appreciation - rather than inflation protection or diversification.