Ethereum hashrate sets a record, and researchers have counted over 100 million cryptocurrency owners
There are more than 100 million cryptocurrency owners in the world
The University of Cambridge and the Center for Alternative Finance have published the third Global Cryptocurrency Comparative Study. To do this, they interviewed 280 companies from 59 countries.
Experts note that bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency for mining: it is mined by 89% of respondents. Next are Ethereum (35%) and Bitcoin Cash (30%). Most miners (69%) use hydropower.
For 2020, there are about 101 million unique cryptocurrency holders in the world. In 2018, the figure was 35 million, which indicates an increase of 189%. The researchers point out that this is a minimum level estimate since it is not possible to accurately count the number of users.
The authors also draw attention to the growing popularity of stablecoins.
“Tether support [grew] from 4% to 32% of service providers and all non-Tether stablecoins [grew] from 11% to 55% the report said.
Ethereum hashrate sets record
On October 6, the hash rate of the Ethereum network reached an all-time high of more than 250 terahashes per second, which is 80% higher than the levels in January.
Glassnode noted that this was facilitated by a surge in hype around DeFi projects, which caused an increase in gas prices. Last time such a high hash rate was in the summer of 2018, then ETH was also trading slightly above the $400 mark.
In addition, mining ethereum is now three times more profitable than bitcoin. According to the F2Pool mining pool, owners of Antminer S19 Pro devices can earn $4.33 per day, while ETH miners using NVIDIA GTX Titan V cards can expect to earn $15.56.
Ripple May Leave US Due to Regulatory Issues
Ripple is considering moving to Europe or Asia due to the lack of clear regulation of cryptosphere in the USA.
According to company co-founder Chris Larsen, the United States is “terribly behind” in preparation for the next generation of the cryptocurrency-based global financial system. Combined with the US government’s “regulation by enforcement” policy, Ripple is considering leaving the country entirely.
“If you want to be in this business, you probably should be going somewhere else. To be honest with you, we’re even looking at relocating our headquarters to a much more friendly jurisdiction,” Larsen said.
He clarified that Ripple is considering moving to countries such as the UK, Switzerland, Singapore or Japan.
