A mining equipment company CEO has responded to issues raised by mining malware hacks infiltrating Amazon Fire software and Android devices saying that it is not representative of the industry. Talking to NewsBTC, he also said that more crypto mining companies are likely to get listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
‘It Gives Crypto a Bad Name’
NewsBTC reported yesterday that an app called ADM.Miner had been found on Android platforms, including the Amazon Fire TV, which used the hardware to mine cryptocurrencies. The app, which exploited systems that had the developer options enabled, would use up the majority of the processing power, causing the software to crash.
Josh Riddlett, CEO of EasyCryptoHunter, and avid altcoin miner said:
“It gives the cryptocurrency community a bad name. Inevitably, it is not representative of the industry. It has been done for ages and it will continue to be done.”
Argo Blockchain has announced plans to raise £20 million ($26.8 million) to become the first crypto miner on the LSE. The money will be raised through an IPO and the company is set to be valued at around £40 million ($53.5 million). On this news, Riddlett said:
“It will be the first of many. It is a natural route these things will go down. Bigger companies will get more and more interested.”
Riddlett’s company, which sells mining equipment, is focused on mining altcoins. He said that, in general, altcoin mining is more profitable than Bitcoin mining because you’re competing against individuals rather than large-scale mining farms. Bitcoin is not ASIC resistant which means it’s easier for mining farms to mine it but it’s mining rewards decrease over time. He added:
“There’s not really a very strong correlation between Bitcoin mining and price increase. Bitcoin is the hardest it has ever been but it’s not the most expensive its ever been. With altcoin mining, you never have the huge difficulty spikes that you have with Bitcoin.”
Obelisk Taking on Mining Farms
Crypto miners Obelisk have shown their intentions of taking on Bitcoin mining farms by providing crypto-communities with mining equipment. The equipment will be specially designed to mine coins that are ASIC resistant by collaborating with the cryptocurrency’s developers. Their main competitors Bitmain are also considering an IPO as CEO Jihan Wu said that he is open to a listing in Hong Kong.
Mobile crypto mining has taken a hit as Apple has issued new controls to prohibit crypto mining on its software. In order to protect its software over mining malware, similar to what affected the Android platforms, it has added new rules to its developer guidelines. The rules now state that apps should not generate excessive heat, rapidly drain the battery or run background crypto mining processes.
Crypto mining is on the rise in Venezuela due to cheap electricity as citizens look for a consistent income among hyperinflation. Some rigs can generate $1,000 a month which is a substantial amount of money and is paid in a foreign currency, such as the US dollar, which means it is subject to less inflation.
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