Coindesk

The number of electricity thefts uncovered in Malaysia soared by 300% between 2018 and end-2024, mainly due to the rise of illegal crypto mining, The Star reported on Monday.The cases were detected in joint operations that included electricity utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the country's largest, the Energy Commission and the police.“Joint operations and nationwide raids have successfully shut down illegal mining setups, contributing to an increase in detected cases from 610 in 2018 to 2,397 in 2024," the utility said in a statement to The Star.Crypto mining is the process of discovering new blocks, verifying transactions and adding them to the blockchain that underpins digital assets. The process, especially for proof-of-work blockchains such as Bitcoin, is energy intensive, providing...

American Bitcoin, Hut 8’s majority-owned unit backed by the Trump family, will go public via a merger with Gryphon Digital Mining (GRYP). Shares of Hut 8 Corp. (HUT) jumped 12% in pre-market trading, while Gryphon Digital Mining (GRYP) soared more than 200%, following the news.American Data Center, which was owned by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, merged their firm with American Bitcoin in March. The Trump brothers own 20% of American Bitcoin, while Hut 8 holds the remaining 80%.The stock-for-stock transaction will result in Gryphon acquiring American Bitcoin, with the combined company adopting the American Bitcoin name and trading on Nasdaq under the ticker “ABTC.” The merger is expected to close as early as Q3 2025. American Bitcoin will...

Over the past two weeks, bitcoin (BTC) has significantly outperformed gold (XAU), and the bullish trend could intensify further. This outlook is supported by bullish developments in the bitcoin-to-gold ratio, which measures BTC's USD price against gold’s USD price per ounce and easing U.S.-China trade tensions. Recently, the ratio broke out of an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, a classic bottoming formation characterized by a large trough flanked by two smaller ones, with a trendline connecting the recoveries between troughs. The breakout indicates bearish-to-bullish trend change, signaling further bitcoin outperformance.Last week, the ratio topped the trendline, and technical analysis suggests it could rise to at least 35.00 from the current 32.00. This target is derived by adding the spread between the largest...

SOL, the native cryptocurrency of the Solana programmable blockchain has staged a sharp four-week rally, surging 85% since April 7 — more than double the pace of bitcoin (BTC) — and large options traders are positioning for further gains.The token climbed to around $176 in recent days as crypto and traditional markets embraced a greater degree of risk. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, has climbed 40%, CoinDesk data show.The gains are unlikely to reverse in the near future, if block traders — primarily institutions and market participants that execute large trading orders over the counter and outside of the public order book — are correct. They have snapped up the Deribit-listed June 27 expiry SOL $200 call...

Retail traders in South Korea are piling into XRP and dogecoin (DOGE) in a sign of returning risk-on sentiment among speculative traders. Trading volumes of the two tokens on local exchanges crossed bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) in the past 24 hours.The surge comes amid renewed risk-on sentiment across crypto and equity markets as U.S.-China trade tensions ease and macro indicators point to possible rate cuts later this year, some traders say.Both XRP and DOGE have climbed more than 15% over the past week, outpacing bitcoin’s 10% move, while ETH has soared nearly 40%, marking its biggest weekly gain since 2021.“Risk assets have recovered sharply to levels that are now challenging even the most ardent bears,” said Augustine Fan, head...