KAITO is the core currency of Kaito AI’s InfoFi ecosystem, enabling transactions, governance, staking, and community engagement.

The S&P 500 fell 0.43% amid Walmart’s weak outlook, with investors eyeing PMI and home sales data next. Gold rose 0.23% to $2,939 on safe-haven demand but retreated from a $2,954 high. Traders await S&P Global Flash PMIs. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was up by 0.02%, with Bitcoin and Ether rising by 2.46% and 0.69%, respectively in the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today’s top performer is BERA, which surged nearly 15.8% after The Graph integrated Berachain Mainnet on day one, enabling seamless onchain data access.

Berachain (BERA), founded in 2021, is a Layer 1 blockchain with Proof-of-Liquidity consensus, ensuring security and liquidity while maintaining full Ethereum compatibility. The Graph has 

 support for the newly launched Berachain mainnet from day one. Developers can now query Berachain data using Subgraph Studio, making it easier to organize and access onchain data. This integration enables the creation of fast and efficient frontends for Berachain-powered dapps.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

 is the core currency of Kaito AI’s InfoFi ecosystem, enabling transactions, governance, staking, and community engagement. The total supply is allocated as follows: 56.67% to community and ecosystem initiatives (including ecosystem growth, creator incentives, and liquidity rewards), 25% to core contributors, 10% to the foundation, and 8.3% to early backers. Distribution is merit-based, using AI-driven assessments of engagement, governance participation, and long-term alignment with Kaito’s vision. Staking provides rewards and voting rights, ensuring active participation. A claim process for KAITO will be announced soon.

Yesterday, BTC Spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of $252.8M, including $33.5M from GBTC and $219.3M from non-GBTC funds.

. With $43 million in funding, this presents a valuable opportunity. To maximize your points, complete the "Generate at least one transaction on Sahara Testnet" task by sending a small amount of SAHARA via Metamask. This earns 20 points, a significant amount compared to other tasks. Ensure you take full advantage of this opportunity.

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KAITO Powers the InfoFi Ecosystem with Governance Staking and Community Rewards

Kaito is an AI-powered information indexer specifically designed to deliver actionable insights for cryptocurrency traders and investors. Find out more now!

Within a year of its launch, Kaito has already established itself as a key player in the web3 industry. Its innovative approach combines artificial intelligence with publicly available crypto conversation data, creating a tool that can present an up-to-date picture of the events affecting the cryptocurrency space at any given time.

 is an AI-powered search engine specifically designed for the cryptocurrency space. It’s a premium service with a monthly subscription of $1,099. The platform indexes thousands of 

 sources that aren’t accessible through traditional search engines, and gathers data from Twitter, Discord, governance forums, research papers, news articles, podcasts and even conference transcripts. 

Kaito uses advanced AI algorithms and natural language processing to better understand context and gauge sentiment about topics. Its use of AI and an internal algorithm allows Kaito to filter out the noise, presenting a more accurate picture of community sentiment. 

. Before moving to web3, Hu worked in the traditional finance space for over eight years, including the management of a $500 million equities portfolio at Citadel. His aim with Kaito is to democratize web3 information by giving users access to tools and insights they need to navigate this ever-changing industry. 

Kaito has quickly attracted significant investment from major 

 in the industry. The project has already raised $10.8 million across two funding rounds.

The seed round in August 2023 was led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital China, Jane Street and others, as Kaito secured $5.3 million. This was followed by a Series A round in June 2023, led by Superscrypt and Spartan, raising an additional $5.5 million with a valuation of $87.5 million. Other notable investors include Mirana Ventures, Folius Ventures and Alpha Lab Capital. 

Kaito offers a range of features designed to provide users with comprehensive and actionable insights. They include the following:

: Kaito’s platform uses a custom-built large language model (LLM) in combination with real-time data gathered from various sources to provide users with actionable insights on developments in the web3 space. 

:As a web3-native company, Kaito can analyze and understand the nuances of 

 and concepts. This gives it an edge when compared to Web 2.0 search engines that struggle to understand this space. 

: Kaito tracks market sentiment at various levels, including general market sentiment, sector-specific sentiment and sentiment toward specific tokens and projects, providing investors and traders with an important metric in assessing a project’s value.

Kaito uses a custom LLM to enhance its data processing capabilities. The platform aggregates data continuously from various sources, including social media, forums and news websites. This data is then processed using Kaito’s natural language processing capability to identify relevant information, extract key insights and analyze market sentiment. 

In addition, its platform uses a reputation system to give weightage to different posts based on the reputation of each poster. It also employs sophisticated algorithms to filter out spam and bots that often try to shape public opinion on social media platforms, especially on X. 

In December 2024, Kaito AI introduced two new elements to its ecosystem: 

 collection. Yaps is a scoring system that measures user contribution and engagement within the web3 community. Users earn 

 by creating valuable content, engaging with others in the crypto space and participating in discussions on 

. Kaito uses four main attributes in allotting these points:

The system also automatically filters out spam posts, making sure only real posters and useful posts can earn Yap points. While Kaito hasn’t officially confirmed a token airdrop associated with Yaps, the program allows participants to accumulate points that might play a role in future rewards, or initiatives within the Kaito AI ecosystem.

Participation in the Yaps program is completely free. Users just need to log in with their Crypto Twitter accounts and Kaito will start tracking their Yaps scores automatically. 

Genesis NFTis a limited-edition collection of 1,500 

 launched by Kaito AI. Priced at 0.1 ETH each, these NFTs have been minted in three phases:

As of Dec 26, 2024, NFTs in the collection are tradable on OpenSea, with a floor price of approximately 3.69 ETH. 

Kaito is a new and innovative service in the web3 space. Its use of AI to cut through the noise and fragmentation presents a great opportunity for the entire ecosystem. Kaito’s 

 suggests that it’s likely to roll out new features and/or services in the future. While the high subscription fee may be an obstacle for large-scale adoption, Kaito is still likely to become an important tool in the hands of institutions and 

 Perpetual Contract with up to 75x leverage now!

Intermediate

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Kaito: AI-Powered Web3 Information Platform

Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report delves into macro events, the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume, as well as futures, options and perpetual contracts.

With fewer macroeconomic releases in early 2025, the crypto market has experienced lower volatility and stagnant spot prices. This has led to decreased implied volatility in derivatives, a steepening term structure and stable open interest. 

However, ETH options still anticipate continued price volatility. Historically, such sideways movements have seen altcoins underperform, reflected in disappointing funding rates in the derivatives market.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

Without clear narratives or volatile spot price movements, open interest in perpetual swap contracts has remained flat over the past two weeks, with trade volumes also subdued in this low-volatility environment. Notably, SOL's perpetual positioning hasn’t significantly changed, even with its spot price 35% below its all-time high from late January.

On February 17, ETH’s spot price surged 6%, contrasting with the sideways movement of other crypto assets, but those gains were nearly reversed within 24 hours. This led to higher realized volatility in derivatives, and a flatter term structure as compared to BTC. Traders continue to assign a premium to short-dated ETH options, whose volatility has been higher than that of BTC for some time. Additionally, ETH option trade volumes have spiked, with calls reaching $0.25 billion on Feb 15, 2025.

Since reaching its all-time high in late January 2025, Solana's spot price has declined, leading to muted options markets with low activity in both calls and puts. Open interest is balanced between upside and downside, and is primarily focused on longer-dated positions, reflecting a lack of interest in short-term trades amidst disappointing spot market activity.

Advanced

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Bybit X Block Scholes Crypto Derivatives Analytics Report (Feb 19, 2025): Crypto Remains Silent as ETH Sees Volatility

Across Protocol (ACX) enables seamless, low-cost cross-chain transfers with intent-based transactions, enhancing DeFi accessibility and security.

Transferring crypto assets from one blockchain network to another is still cumbersome, costly and inconvenient for many users, particularly those without a deep technical understanding of the technology. Numerous 

 solutions have emerged to facilitate the process, but the costs and complexity of crypto transfers are still an issue limiting the adoption of cross-chain 

Across Protocol (ACX) is a blockchain project that aims to tackle this problem by offering highly efficient, low-cost and secure cross-chain transactions based on intent technology. 

Intents — transaction requests with prespecified conditions — have seen rapid adoption in the blockchain industry. Across Protocol has focused its service offerings on using this promising technology. Begun in 2021 as a solution to facilitate token transfers between 

 networks linked to the blockchain, the protocol has evolved through two major version upgrades into a modular cross-chain solution that DApp operators can easily integrate into their platforms.

The protocol’s latest iteration, Across V3, features a modular settlement layer that 

 (DeFi) platforms can leverage to offer their users seamless, intent-based cross-chain swaps and asset transfers, all without leaving the user app’s native interface.

 (ACX) is an intent-based, modular web3 solution that offers cross-chain crypto transfers and swaps.

 Using the protocol, DApp operators can integrate Across into their own solutions to let their end users conduct intent-based cross-chain operations.

Across is not a newcomer to the blockchain scene — the project was launched in late 2021 and might be considered one of the first, if not the first, decentralized protocols specializing in intent-based cross-chain transactions. The original protocol, now known as Across V1, was primarily limited to enabling direct asset transfers between Ethereum and Layer 2 chains connected to the world's largest 

In June 2022, the protocol underwent its first significant upgrade with the introduction of Across V2. This upgrade improved the overall efficiency of the platform and introduced new functions. The major difference between V1 and V2 was that the latter could facilitate further intent-based transactions after the transfer of assets from the origin chain to the destination network. In contrast, Across V1 was limited to simple asset bridging between chains.

However, the protocol's most significant upgrade arrived in the form of Across V3, announced in February 2024, which introduced asset swap functionality and architectural modularity, allowing Across to act as a pluggable solution for various DeFi applications. Across V3 also simplified the calculation of fees for cross-chain operations. With Across V3, DApps of various kinds — primarily in the DeFi niche — can easily integrate intent-based cross-chain asset transfers, swaps and liquidity solutions into their own platforms. The protocol provides a set of APIs for developers for such integration.

The best part is that users of these DApps don't need to leave the platforms' native interfaces to execute the cross-chain operations. All of the activities supported by Across Protocol are carried out via the client's DApp interface. This is in stark contrast to the typical cross-chain experience for many web3 users, as they need to use multiple interfaces — e.g., one provided by an asset bridging solution and another at the destination app they use — to carry out their desired crypto operations.

Transactions executed by the protocol are based on user intents. Intents are conditional requests from users to perform some action, e.g., a token swap from ETH to USDT, if specific requirements are met, e.g., the swap rate is no lower than a certain value of ETH. In reality, many intents are executable transactions in the form of 

. Intent-based transactions have recently become popular in the crypto industry, due to benefits such as the limit on swap rates, a no-slippage fee model and other conditions that perfectly fit users' intended outcomes.

User intents are passed to Across's decentralized network or relayers, also known as solvers or fillers, which look for the best on-chain sources to satisfy the requests. Relayers compete with each other to offer the best solution to the user's stated outcome. The relayer that provides the best outcome earns the right to execute the transaction. This competitive relayer landscape allows end users to access the best possible rates for their cross-chain transfers and swaps.

Across Protocol locks user funds allocated for a transaction in an escrow pool instead of immediately transferring them to the winning relayer's custody, providing enhanced security to users. Relayers are responsible for providing the necessary funds to carry out the transaction on their own without having access to the user funds in escrow. When a relayer successfully executes an intent, they’re repaid from the liquidity pool holding the escrowed assets. To optimize 

, repayments to relayers are bundled and transferred in batches.

At the architectural level, Across is a modular system with three main layers — intent, relayer and settlement.

The intent layer is the component that handles user intents and their deposits at the origin chain. Then, the relayer hosts the network of relayer nodes and handles functions related to their activity — provision of capital to execute user intents, competitive bidding and the execution of intents.

The settlement layer is where the finalization of the transaction flow occurs, with relayers repaid in bundles and transactions settled on the destination chain. Verification of transactions uses an optimistic oracle that’s provided by the 

, a protocol specializing in blockchain oracle services.

Across Bridge is a cross-chain token bridge designed for efficient, low-cost and secure asset transfers. It provides an easy-to-use interface for users to move tokens seamlessly between different decentralized networks. To start using the bridge, you’ll need to connect a supported wallet. As of early February 2025, the bridge supports four popular wallet types — 

, Coinbase Wallet, Phantom and the group of wallets compatible with the WalletConnect framework. Currently supported networks for transfers include the Ethereum mainnet, 

 (POL) and zkSync Era. Transfers from the origin chain to the destination chain typically take only a few seconds to confirm.

Across+ is a bridge abstraction solution that utilizes cross-chain hooks to bundle multiple actions into one user transaction. In plain terms, it simply means that you can bridge assets to a protocol or DApp on the destination chain and carry out further actions (such as contributing liquidity) with a single transaction. For end users, this helps abstract the fact that the assets used for a crypto operation have been initially moved in from a different network. The cross-chain hooks let end-users carry out these transactions with a single instruction/signature, although under the hood, multiple actions are performed at the smart contract level.

Across+ boasts an extensive cross-chain reach. It currently supports 17 networks, including Ethereum and a wide range of Ethereum-linked Layer 2 chains.

Earlier, we noted that Across Protocol moved to a modular design with the launch of its V3 in early 2024. This shift to modularity has created opportunities for DApps and external protocols to use the platform’s settlement layer as a pluggable standalone product to provide efficient settlement for intent-based cross-chain transactions. Using Across Settlement, DApps can extend their functionality into intent-based liquidity operations, swaps and transfers. Across Settlement supports the same 17 decentralized networks that can be utilized with Across+.

In November 2022, Across Protocol launched its native token, ACX. The token is primarily used for 

, and holders can vote on various proposals related to the protocol's rules, future direction, treasury spending and native token emission. ACX holders exercise their governance function through membership in the Across DAO.

Holders of the token represent one component of the protocol’s governance model. The other two key parties involved are the Across Council and Committees, made up of specific subject matter experts. While all ACX token holders are entitled to vote on proposals, only those who hold at least 50,000 ACX (around $16,000) can submit proposals considered for voting.

ACX is a supply-capped asset, with a total and maximum supply of 1 billion. The token’s allocation shares are as follows:

 as a Perpetual contract with USDT. Under the terms of the contract, you can trade ACX with up to 50x leverage. The contract is available to traders in Bybit’s derivatives products, such as 

As of Feb 20, 2025, the ACX token is trading at $0.3257, which is 80.7% lower than its ATH of $1.69 on Dec 6, 2024, and 846.3% higher than its ATL of $0.03441 on Jun 1, 2023.

Long-term price forecasts for ACX are mostly bullish.DigitalCoinPrice 

 an average rate of $1.17 in 2027 and $1.78 in 2030, whileCoinCodex 

 the token to trade at around $0.34 in 2027 and rise to $1.12 in 2030.

The inefficient and often costly process of moving assets from one chain to another continues to hamper the adoption of DApps among crypto users. By enabling cross-chain intent-based functionality, Across Protocol seeks to provide DApps and their end users with a truly single-chain experience, where crypto operations across different networks can be handled from the same user interface.

Moreover, some of the protocol's key features — intent-based transaction execution, the competitive nature of the relayers' work and the batching of relayer repayments — contribute to lowering the costs of transfers and other crypto operations. Furthermore, the escrow system that the protocol employs protects users from malicious relayers, contributing to a stronger security profile for its platform. 

Minimal costs and tight security while carrying out your cross-chain crypto operations from a single DApp interface — these features aren't easy to come by all in one solution! 

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Across (ACX): An Intents-Driven Solution for Cross-Chain Transfers

Crypto

Crypto mining refers to the process of contributing your computer’s processing resources to securing the network consensus on a blockchain.

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As crypto ownership increases internationally, more people are exploring ways to buy, earn and trade cryptocurrency. Buying crypto on 

 like Bybit is currently the predominant way of obtaining cryptocurrency. 

However, in addition to buying cryptocurrency, you might also earn it in several ways. One popular way to earn crypto is mining.

Cryptocurrency mining refers to the process of contributing your computer’s processing resources to securing the network consensus on a

By participating in crypto mining, you can help a blockchain platform keep its operations free from hostile takeovers, spam, and attempts to centralize the operational control in the hands of a small number of network agents.

Best of all, you can earn significant crypto rewards from participation in the mining activity while contributing your resources to these noble goals.

Although crypto mining is a very competitive process, its potential rewards are nothing to sneeze at. For instance, the current reward for mining a block on the 

 (BTC) blockchain is 6.25 BTC (over $140,000 at the coin’s current market price). The reward is designed to be halved approximately every four years, although BTC’s increase in monetary value over time helps compensate for the reduced award.

Bitcoin’s block rewards and halving dates

To become a crypto miner on a blockchain platform, you’ll need to have the requisite mining hardware. By now, given the competitive nature of crypto mining, the standard hardware required is usually an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) machine, a powerful computer specifically designed for mining purposes. On some chains, powerful GPUs on a PC might also be used.

There are two main blockchain types based on the method of transaction verification used, either 

 (PoS) verification. Mining is an activity associated with transaction verification on PoW blockchains.

The PoW chains employing the mining procedure include, among others, the world’s two leading networks – Bitcoin and 

PoW is a computational procedure used to validate and add blocks of transactions to a blockchain’s permanent ledger of records. On blockchains using the PoW method, special network nodes called miners package transactions into batches/blocks, and then use their computers’ 

to try to “solve” a computational puzzle that will “validate” the block. The validated block is then added permanently to the blockchain.

PoW’s short description does sound like a concept from a rocket science textbook, doesn’t it? While PoW is indeed a rather technical process, it can be easily understood when you look at its execution step by step. For our step-by-step description, we'll show how Bitcoin mining works, though the overall principle applies to all PoW chains.

Step 1 — A new (unconfirmed) transaction is initiated on the network.

Initially, all Bitcoin transactions receive an unconfirmed transaction status. When two users transact on the blockchain, e.g., one sends some crypto funds to the other, a new unconfirmed transaction is generated on the network. The transaction contains the key records, such as the sender address, the receiver address and the amount sent. The transaction is broadcast across the entire network.

Step 2 — The unconfirmed transaction enters the waiting area(s) called a mempool(s).

Bitcoin miners continually monitor the network for new activity. Each miner has a temporary area on their machine where unconfirmed transactions pop up after appearing on the network per Step 1. This temporary area is called a 

Contrary to popular belief, there is no single mempool on the network. Each miner has their own mempool. Two miners’ mempools may differ slightly, as each node is built differently and receives the unconfirmed transactions at a different time, though by default the mempool size cannot exceed 300 MB.

Step 3 — Miners package transactions into candidate blocks.

Miners regularly pick transactions from their mempools and package them into so-called “candidate blocks.” On Bitcoin, the average candidate block is 

, which fits approximately 2,000 transactions.

Since miners may have somewhat different mempool contents, the composition of the candidate blocks between different miners also differs.

Step 4 — Miners race to solve a computational puzzle to make their candidate block the winner.

The actual PoW process starts at step 4. After packaging up their candidate blocks, each miner uses their machine to repeatedly add a small number, called a 

, to a different number generated by the network’s software. The resulting number is then run through the hashing algorithm used by Bitcoin, called 

The hashing algorithm is designed to modify the input cryptographically and provide a modified output value. This output value must equal or be less than a certain system-generated 

, which is continually updated by the blockchain’s code. If that happens, the candidate block is said to have been “solved,” i.e., its status moves from candidate to fully verified block.

The verified block is then added to the blockchain as the next record in the ledger. The miner who has solved the block receives their reward, which for Bitcoin is currently 6.25 BTC.

Each miner races to be the first one to find a match for the target value and make their candidate block the winner. To do so, miners, or rather their computers, repeat the process of adding the nonce value a massive number of times, and try to do it as fast as possible.

The more nonce substitutions (hashes) you can make per second, the higher your statistical chance of winning the race. Modern powerful ASIC computers (see above) are capable of adding hundreds of trillions of hashes per second.

This race to solve the next block on the chain is repeated on Bitcoin every 10 minutes. When a winning block emerges, miners promptly drop their attempts to solve their current candidate block, update their mempools to remove the now confirmed transactions, package another candidate block from the available unconfirmed transactions, and restart their race to be the first miner to add the next block to the chain.

The computational battle among miners to solve new blocks on the chain is an extremely energy-intensive process. It also slows down the processing capacity of the network significantly. You might be wondering why the network is subjected to this seemingly pointless and laborious procedure.

The key rationale behind using PoW is to protect the network from spam transactions and, importantly, from attempts to take over the network, i.e., to violate its decentralized nature.

On the scale of the entire blockchain, PoW requires so much energy and hash power expenditure that no single entity, person or group can realistically solve all or most blocks on the network.

Thus, PoW is the key element to ensuring that blockchains remain decentralized and free from the control of a small number of actors.

Among the popular blockchains based on PoW are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Monero (XMR).

The top 5 proof-of-work cryptocurrencies by market cap (in billions of USD) as of August 4, 2022:

PoS is the main alternative to PoW for validating transactions on a blockchain. With the PoS model, there is no computationally intensive race to solve transaction blocks. Each new unprocessed block on the network is allocated to a validator node, who verifies it and adds the block to the chain.

Under the most basic PoS model, this allocation to a validator node is random, and the validator’s probability of getting the next block to process is directly dependent on the share of the chain’s native cryptocurrency held or staked by that node.

For example, if you hold 3% of all the crypto funds on the network, you’ll get the chance to validate around 3% of all the blocks.

Unlike PoW, PoS neither requires significant energy expenditure nor appreciably slows down the network’s operations. Some of the popular blockchains using PoS include Binance Chain (BNB), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Tron (TRX) and Avalanche (AVAX).

The world’s second-largest chain, Ethereum, is planning to move from its current PoW version to the new PoS platform, 

The top 5 proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies by market cap (in billions of USD) as of August 4, 2022:

There are three principal methods of mining cryptocurrency to validate transactions and earn crypto rewards in the process:

Solo mining is just what its name implies: You purchase the necessary mining hardware, join a blockchain network as a node, download the requisite software and attempt to mine blocks on your own. If you manage to mine a block, you’ll receive the mining reward without having to share it with any other network participant.

While (theoretically) you can use your PC’s CPU or GPU to mine crypto, this is no longer practical or profitable, given the intense competition between miners on most popular PoW chains. For profitable mining, your realistic choice is limited to ASIC machines.

On popular chains like Bitcoin, solo mining — even with a powerful ASIC machine — could be challenging due to the competition from mining pools. These are groups of network participants who pool resources from many individual miners in order to dominate mining activity.

) can help you estimate the mining difficulty and profitability for various networks. These websites allow you to enter the specifications of your ASIC rig, your electricity rates, the chain on which you’d like to mine and other relevant parameters. They then produce profitability estimates.

A mining pool refers to a large group of individual miners who pool their computing resources together to increase the chance of solving the next block on the chain. Large mining pools can have many thousands of individuals contributing their hash power to the joint operation.

The distribution of Bitcoin mining activity by pools — 30 days to August 4, 2022

When a block is solved by any member of the pool, the mining reward is split between all the pool participants proportional to their hash power contribution. Due to the resource pooling from a large number of computers, mining pools have a significantly higher chance of solving blocks than solo miners.

If you’re considering mining Bitcoin or other popular cryptos like 

 and Litecoin, it’s highly recommended that you join a sufficiently large online crypto mining pool rather than try to go solo. A good pool can make your Bitcoin mining profitable even if you don’t own the most powerful mining rig on the network. While your rewards will trickle in in smaller amounts, at least they’ll arrive with some degree of consistency.

Conversely, if you mine solo, your rewards might become very infrequent or not materialize at all, given the fierce competition on the leading PoW chains.

Solo mining and pooled mining both require you to own mining hardware. Instead of buying the hardware, you could also participate by joining a 

platform. Cloud mining platforms charge users a monthly or yearly fee for the opportunity to rent their internal mining hardware resources.

In exchange for the fee, the cloud platform runs the mining operations on your behalf on a blockchain network. Any rewards obtained from the mining activity are shared with you. The higher the fee you pay, the more hash power you can rent, and, therefore, the higher your rewards are likely to be.

The cloud mining model looks very attractive since it frees you from the requirement of owning a mining rig. However, before committing to it, carefully research the fees and reputation of the cloud mining providers on the market. Finding a reliable long-term provider with low fees might be a challenging task in this niche.

The biggest advantage of crypto mining is, undoubtedly, the potential to 

. Mining crypto might be an energy-intensive process, but it’s usually done in a hands-off way, i.e., you don’t need to be actively monitoring what’s going on on the network.

In a practical sense, you simply keep your rig functioning on autopilot. As such, mining could be a great way to earn a passive income.

Another benefit of mining is more of an altruistic nature — you get the chance to

 contribute to keeping the network decentralized 

Along with its advantages, crypto mining has certain drawbacks and risks associated with it. One of them is the 

. The competition between miners on the leading PoW platforms is fierce, making crypto mining an uncertain and volatile activity in terms of profitability. You might be turning a profit today, but if the competition on the network suddenly spikes, you could be in the red tomorrow.

 to participate in crypto mining. Powerful ASIC rigs that could give you a good chance to mine crypto profitably cost at least $3,000, quite a bit more than your typical PC. Regardless of the price you pay for your mining rig, do remember that profitability will fluctuate and there are no profit guarantees in this game, not even with powerful machines.

 might create environmental issues. The Bitcoin blockchain

 per year than a country as large as Argentina, the second largest South American economy. By participating in crypto mining, you are definitely not going to make friends with environmental activists.

Besides the environmental impact of the entire blockchain, the energy-hungry crypto mining process will add some serious figures to your own energy bills.

While cryptocurrencies and crypto trade are banned by a number of countries, very few countries around the world have explicitly banned crypto mining. The most well-known example of a country where crypto mining is banned is 

. The Chinese authorities have repeatedly cracked down on mining activity in the People’s Republic. Any form of crypto-related activity, including mining, is illegal in the country.

Another rare country that has made crypto mining illegal is

. The ban was largely driven by the energy shortages in the Balkan state.

 has made crypto mining illegal, but only if the mining activity originates from state-owned public housing. Crypto mining outside of these premises is not illegal. For example, dedicated crypto mining facilities used on industrial premises are free from this ban.

 has introduced temporary multi-month bans on crypto mining. The last of these bans was in effect until March 2022. However, in general, crypto mining is not illegal in the country.

Other than the nations above, no other country has explicitly made crypto mining illegal as of early August 2022. India and Russia are considering legislation that might restrict most crypto-related operations, including mining. However, this has not yet been passed into law.

Crypto mining could be a rewarding activity if you have powerful mining equipment and choose profitable coins/networks. However, it’s a volatile game with increasingly fierce competition between miners on popular chains. This competition continually raises the benchmark for the minimum hardware specifications to turn a profit. For most people looking to reap profits from crypto, it might be easier to find other sources of crypto passive income or simply engage in crypto trading.

Given the speed and energy inefficiencies of the PoW validation procedure, most new blockchains are choosing the alternative PoS format. This limits the number of platforms where crypto mining could be used. Ethereum’s imminent move to PoS is also a telling sign that the PoW validation, and the mining process associated with it, is growing increasingly archaic in the blockchain industry.

However, while the world’s largest blockchain, Bitcoin, continues to use the PoW validation method, crypto mining will stay with us, and there will be no shortage of people willing to join this trade.

What Is Crypto Mining and How Does It Work?

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards