Bitcoin’s hashrate has fallen by 16.94% overnight after authorities from China’s Sichuan province ordered a state-owned power grid to cut the energy of 26 cryptocurrency mining farms in the region.

U.K. bank TSB is reportedly banning its more than 5.4 million customers from buying cryptocurrencies over concerns surrounding “excessively high” rates of fraud on crypto trading platforms.

European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Fabio Panetta has revealed he believes a digital euro would preserve privacy better than stablecoins issued by large tech companies.

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Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin Hashrate Drops 17% On Sichuan Shutdown Order
• U.K. Bank TSB To Ban Its Customers From Buying Crypto Over Fraud Concerns
• Euro CBDC Would Respect Privacy, Says ECB Board Member
• Sponsored: Crypto.com - The World’s Fastest Growing Crypto App

Bitcoin Hashrate Drops 17% On Sichuan Shutdown Order

Bitcoin’s hashrate has fallen by 16.94% overnight after authorities from China’s Sichuan province ordered a state-owned power grid to cut the energy of 26 cryptocurrency mining farms in the region.

Major Chinese bitcoin mining pools were hit by the order, with Antpool, BTC.com, and Poolin experiencing hashrate plunges from 10% to 22%. Foundry USA, Slushpool, and SBI Crypto are some of the mining pools that weren’t based in China.

1Thash, a private mining pool of Sichuan-based Valarhash, saw a whopping 46% drop in its hashrate, losing about 1,000 petahashes per second (PH/s) of real-time hashrate.

The Sichuan government’s crackdown also requires local power suppliers to expand their inspections and close down any mining facilities using hydroelectricity supplied by the State Grid or directly from small and private power plants.

The move came shortly after the Xinjiang government directed power plants in the Zhundong Economic Technological Development Zone to shut down their mining facilities earlier this month. Both Xinjiang and Sichuan have historically been major bitcoin mining hubs in China due to their abundant fossil fuel and hydroelectric energy.

Their crackdown comes as a direct result of a high-level comment made during a Chinese State Council meeting last month on cracking down on bitcoin trading and mining.

U.K. Bank TSB To Ban Its Customers From Buying Crypto Over Fraud Concerns

U.K. bank TSB is reportedly banning its more than 5.4 million customers from buying cryptocurrencies over concerns surrounding “excessively high” rates of fraud on crypto trading platforms.

A report details the bank is blocking its customers from sending funds to platforms including Binance and Kraken over concerns scammers are being allowed to set up e-wallets and steal people’s money because of inadequate security checks.

The bank is particularly concerned about Binance, as two-thirds of all fraud involving cryptocurrency was tied to the leading exchange. The report details that in one 30-day period, 849 customers reportedly lost funds from Binance accounts.

The bank added Binance “hardly ever” responds to allegations of customer fraud. Both Kraken and Binance denied these claims.

Euro CBDC Would Respect Privacy, Says ECB Board Member

European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Fabio Panetta has revealed he believes a digital euro would preserve privacy, better than stablecoins issued by large tech companies.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Panetta said:

“If the central bank gets involved in digital payments, privacy is going to be better protected [...] because we are not like private companies. We have no commercial interest in storing, managing or monetising the data of users.”

Panetta seemingly reacted to an announcement made last month by the Facebook-backed Diem association, which said a pilot version of its stablecoin was on the way. The ECB board member described Diem, formerly known as Libra, as an “unstable coin.”

Per his words, the ECB’s digital euro would be a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in which payments would go through “but nobody in the payment chain would have access to all the information.”

What is Satoshi Nakamoto's Net Worth?

Pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto did not leave the cryptocurrency community with a lot of information regarding his or her identity or personal wallet addresses, so knowing what Satoshi Nakamoto’s net worth is rather hard. Estimates suggest, however, he has one million BTC, worth over $40 billion.

Understanding the potential net worth of Satoshi Nakamoto is important as Satoshi is believed to own a very significant amount of BTC that could crash the market if they were to ever move or sell it.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) considers the unmasking of Satoshi Nakamoto or the transfer of his balance a risk for the market, according to documents the company released in February 2021 for its debut on the Nasdaq exchange.

Find out more on Satoshi’s estimated net worth here.

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