- Bitcoin layer-2 staking offers a superior alternative to interest rates
- Crypto miner Marathon Digital unveils Bitcoin layer 2 network Anduro
- Marathon Digital revenue surges 452% in Q4 amid ‘banner year’
Bitcoin layer-2 staking offers a superior alternative to interest rates
Staking creates a new kind of interest rate, defined by users rather than by central banks and government policy.
This "people’s interest rate" offers an alternative to the flawed traditional interest rate systems — and the ability to stake a trusted and highly-recognized asset bolsters the feasibility and credibility of this vision.
...instead of relying on the public internet to transmit data, Bitcoin transactions can now be conveyed across a layer-2 (or the data-link layer), guaranteeing data speeds and packet delivery regardless of traffic levels between the two parties.
From an end-user perspective, complex smart contracts can now be developed and implemented directly in Bitcoin, containing within all the necessary conditions, dependencies and obligations — making Bitcoin not only a means of exchange, but a means of compliance, ensuring contracts’ integrity.
Putting Bitcoin to work through staking parallels is what mainstream fund managers, investors, and central banks do with fiat currencies.
A country’s base rate — the interest rate that a central bank charges commercial banks for loans — nominally represents the opportunity cost of putting money in a savings account rather than investing it elsewhere.
Underpinning this is the idea that returns from interest can offset inflation, which itself is influenced by the productivity and efficiency levels within an economy.
Central banks are only as independent as any government allows them to be, and as central bankers themselves are appointed by the government, they are ultimately implementers of policy — and spurious base rates are one of the consequences of this.
What becomes apparent when considering the broader base rate landscape is a detachment from the fundamental ideas that underpin their basic utility. There is no correlation between interest rates and the opportunity cost of investing. Instead, base rates risk becoming nothing more than a political tool that officials can use expediently and opportunistically.
A 'people’s interest rate'
the interest rate for Bitcoin staking is determined by users themselves rather than a central bank, unburdened by political agendas.
BItcoin staking is a fresh, decentralized alternative to the inadequate systems currently in place — making possible a new rate defined by participants, rather than lobbyists and governmental interests, forming part of a better future for our economic systems.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-layer-2-staking-offers-superior-alternative-interest-rates
Marathon Digital revenue surges 452% in Q4 amid ‘banner year’
The firm made a record $387.5 million in revenue in 2023, increasing 229% from the previous year.
Fourth-quarter revenue increased 452% to $156.8 million, beating analyst estimates and rising significantly from $28.4 million in Q4 2022.
The increase in revenue was driven by a 172% increase in Bitcoin production year-over-year, coupled with around double the average BTC price during the period.
The firm sold 56% of the Bitcoin it produced during the quarter to fund operating costs.
Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) improved to $260 million in Q4, 2023, from a loss of $374 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Marathon’s Bitcoin production increased 210% to a record 12,852 BTC in 2023.
Its energized hash rate increased 253% to 24.7 EH/s (exahashes per second) in 2023 from just 7.0 EH/s the previous year.
Shares in the mining giant have surged more than 300% over the past 12 months.
Marathon has recently announced that it was incubating and developing a Bitcoin layer-2 sidechain platform called Anduro on Feb. 28 as it branches out from crypto mining.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/marathon-digital-bitcoin-mining-revenue-surges-results-q4-earnings
Marathon Digital released its fourth-quarter and annual earnings report on Feb. 28:
https://ir.mara.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1345/marathon-digital-holdings-reports-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal
Crypto miner Marathon Digital unveils Bitcoin layer 2 network Anduro
Crypto mining giant Marathon Digital is venturing into Bitcoin scaling with a newly announced multichain layer-2 network called Anduro.
Anduro utilizes merge-mining, which could allow miners to earn revenue from sidechain transactions while continuing to mine BTC.
Anduro is intended to serve as an application layer and encourage innovation within the Bitcoin ecosystem by allowing the creation of multiple sidechains.
The programable layer-2 is designed to “systematically integrate decentralized governance, with a focus on becoming the most reliable, developer-centric Bitcoin layer-two,” the firm stated.
Marathon Digital is also working on the first two sidechains on Anduro, Coordinate and Alys.
- Coordinate offers a cost-effective UTXO (unspent transaction output) stack for the Ordinals community, and
- Alys is an Ethereum-compatible sidechain for institutional asset tokenization.
...supporting innovation in the Bitcoin ecosystem
Bitcoin layer-2 narratives are gaining momentum following the Ordinals and BRC-20 hype of 2023.
CT News:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miner-marathon-digital-unveils-layer-2-network-anduro
Related press release:
https://ir.mara.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1344/marathon-digital-holdings-introduces-anduro-a-new
