Bitcoin’s price has experienced a slight retreat from the $60,000 resistance level, trading around $57,000 during the European morning. This marks a 2.4% decline in the last 24 hours, with the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) also falling by 2.3%. Despite climbing above $59,000 on Thursday following a positive U.S. consumer price report, Bitcoin has failed to maintain a sustained rally, indicating potential price weakness ahead.
Iris Energy’s mining site in Childress, Texas, has been deemed suitable for bitcoin mining but not for AI purposes by analysts at Bernstein. The company’s shares dropped nearly 14% after Culper Research released a short-selling report highlighting the site’s inadequacies for AI and high-performance computing (HPC). Bernstein analysts clarified that Iris Energy has no plans to convert the site for AI use, with 65% of the company’s value attributed to bitcoin mining and the remaining 35% to AI/HPC. The current capital expenditure metric of $1 million per megawatt reflects bitcoin mining capex, making a comparison to AI/HPC capex irrelevant.
Partior, a blockchain payment joint venture involving JPMorgan, DBS, and Standard Chartered, has secured $60 million in Series B funding. The funding round was led by Peak XV Partners, with additional contributions from Valor Capital Group and Jump Trading Group. Partior aims to establish unified blockchain-based interbank payment rails for instant clearing and settlement, a move that aligns with the increasing adoption of blockchain technology in banking processes. JPMorgan’s Onyx network, which has settled transactions worth hundreds of billions of dollars since its launch, is a testament to the growing use of blockchain in financial services.
In other news, XRP’s bitcoin-denominated price (XRP/BTC) has been on the rise for the third consecutive day, reaching its highest level in two months. CME and CF Benchmarks recently introduced indexes and reference rates for XRP and Internet Computer (ICP), a development welcomed by Ripple Labs Inc. CEO Brad Garlinghouse as a boost for institutional adoption.
Overall, the crypto market continues to see fluctuations in prices and developments in blockchain technology that are shaping the future of digital assets and financial services. Stay tuned for more updates and analysis on the latest trends in the world of cryptocurrencies.