Foundry USA Surpasses Bitmain as the Second-Largest Bitcoin Mining Pool

Foundry USA, a crypto-mining service provider located in New York, has surpassed Bitmain to become the world’s second-largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining pool, claiming a 15.42 percent share of the network’s total mining capacity. The Digital Currency Group-owned Foundry USA trails the pool leader AntPool by just 4,000 PH/s, according to data from BTC.com. This hash rate difference led to Foundry USA’s 17.76 percent network share at the time of writing.

The recent sweeping ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining operations imposed by China may be ascribed to the increase in involvement by American organizations. Local Bitcoin miners were compelled to relocate in huge numbers as a result of the prohibition; they are now based in countries that are favourable to cryptocurrency, such as the United States, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Foundry USA is the most expensive mining pool in terms of average transaction fees, charging 0.09418116 BTC (almost $5,500) every block on average, out of the top five mining pools in terms of hash rate distribution. In addition, American enterprises have taken up the slack left by China in the spread of cryptocurrency ATMs.

According to Coin ATM Radar statistics, the Georgia-based Bitcoin Depot has surpassed its Chinese rivals to become the world’s largest crypto ATM operator, surpassing its Chinese competitors. Surprisingly, the vast majority of cryptocurrency ATM operators are managed by American corporations, a tendency that has been more prominent since China’s preemptive restriction on cryptocurrency activity.

Contrary to its stated intention to develop an in-house central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Chinese Communist Party on Oct. 21 sought public opinion on the country’s Bitcoin mining ban, sparking discussions about the possibility of amending the government’s negative stance on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining activities.

However, according to Statista’s statistics, China’s contribution to the Bitcoin mining hash rate has been steadily declining since September of this year. Two decades ago, China accounted for more than 75% of Bitcoin’s mining hash rate, a figure that had dropped to 46% by April 2021, just months before the country banned cryptocurrency.

As the United States moves closer to widespread use of Bitcoin, authorities are looking for clarification on the new reporting requirements proposed by the Biden administration. Members of the Republican and Democratic parties have called on the government to revise the crypto tax reporting regulations on a number of times, as well as to redefine the term “broker” in the context of cryptocurrency transactions.

In accordance with the bipartisan infrastructure plan, beginning in 2024, the general public will be required to report to the Internal Revenue Service any digital asset transactions valued at more than $10,000. Brokers are now considered under the bill to include miners and validators, hardware and software developers, and protocol developers, among other parties.