Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose 3.5% earlier this week to a new all-time high, to now stand at 92.67 Tas miners bet on a potential BTC price rise in the fourth quarter of the year.

The UK government has introduced a bill in Parliament aimed at clarifying the legal status of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

Lawyers representing the former CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison have recommended a sentence to time served after her guilty plea to seven felony counts related to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits New High
• UK Government Introduces New Bill to Clarify Digital Assets’ Legal Status
• Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison’s Legal Team Seeks Leniency

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Hits New High

Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose 3.5% earlier this week to reach a new all-time high of 92.67 Tas miners bet on a potential BTC price rise in the fourth quarter of the year.

According to available data, the metric, which has been steadily rising, often tends to mirror expectations of directional price changes, and has been rising even amid a Bitcoin price correction.

Bitcoin's value has dropped by roughly 10% since the "halving" event in April, which significantly reduced the potential revenue for miners, putting pressure on their margins, as it cut the coinbase rewards miners receive per block found in half.

Christopher Bendiksen, Bitcoin research lead at CoinShares, warned that the combination of record-high difficulty and the recent halving is creating a “challenging” environment for many miners, especially those with higher operating costs. If current trends persist, some miners may struggle to remain cash flow positive, let alone profitable.

Another key indicator, Bitcoin's hash rate, which measures the total computing power supporting the network, also hit an all-time high in September.

Historically, Bitcoin's price has often declined following a halving event but then rebounded to new highs several months later. Bendiksen suggested that miners are “speculating on a significant increase in the Bitcoin price.” If it fails to materialize, there could be “trouble ahead for some operations.”

UK Government Introduces New Bill to Clarify Digital Assets’ Legal Status

The UK government has introduced a bill in Parliament aimed at clarifying the legal status of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

The proposed legislation seeks to establish these assets as personal property under British law, providing much-needed guidelines for the legal profession and offering greater protection for individuals and businesses involved in the digital asset space.

Central to the bill is the creation of a new category of property, distinct from the existing categories of "things in possession,” which covers items such as money and cars, and "things in action,” which covers debt and shares. The new category, “things,” will allow certain digital assets to be subject to personal property rights, according to Justice Minister Heidi Alexander.

The government's proposal follows a consultation conducted by the Law Commission earlier this year that concluded that while some digital assets do not fit into the traditional categories of property, they should nonetheless be treated as capable of being subject to personal property rights.

Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison’s Legal Team Seeks Leniency

Lawyers representing the former CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison have recommended a sentence to time served after her guilty plea to seven felony counts related to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

In a court filing, Ellison's legal team submitted letters from friends, colleagues, and family members advocating for a lenient sentence. The attorneys argued that Ellison's “extraordinary cooperation with the government,” her “otherwise unblemished record,” and “numerous testimonials” of her honesty and “ethical behavior” warrant a non-custodial sentence.

The filing highlighted Ellison's extensive cooperation with prosecutors, and argued that she poses no risk of recidivism and presents no threat to public safety.

Ellison's attorneys also addressed claims made in the sentencing memo that Bankman-Fried had encouraged her to use Adderall to combat fatigue while working at Alameda. They stated that she has since sought to “detox” from the drug and has been actively involved in community service.

In her testimony, Ellison admitted to creating fraudulent balance sheets making Alameda “look less risky than it was” after the trading firm took FTX user funds for other investments. The sentencing hearing for Caroline Ellison is scheduled for September 24.

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