ChainCatcher news, Cango Inc. saw its stock price rise by 280% due to its entry into the Bitcoin mining business, with two board members planning to sell $2 million worth of company stock.According to new documents released on Thursday, Cango CEO Jiayuan Lin and director Zhipeng Song plan to sell 100,000 and 200,000 shares of the company stock, respectively, with the sale expected around December 20. The total market value of the shares being sold is estimated at $2.07 million.Cango was founded in 2010 as a digital platform for providing auto loans. It went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018. Last month, Cango announced the acquisition of 32 EH/s Bitcoin mining machines from Bitmain as part of its entry into the Bitcoin mining sector. In November alone, the company mined 363.9 BTC. This move triggered a 290% surge in Cango's stock price, jumping from around $2.80 to $8.00.

ChainCatcher news, the cryptocurrency venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) has decided to split its Foundry mining business into two independent entities, Fortitude Mining and Foundry.Fortitude Mining will house Foundry's previous self-mining operations and physical infrastructure. On the other hand, Foundry will maintain its pool operations and other Bitcoin mining service lines.DCG noted in a shareholder letter that it is adjusting its business to accommodate future growth. The letter stated, "We believe that (Fortitude) will be stronger as an independent company, so we are spinning it off as a wholly-owned subsidiary of DCG."To ensure a smoother transition, DCG will bring some of Foundry's leadership into the new subsidiary. To gain further support and raise funds, DCG plans to recruit additional staff from outside. Fortitude has already requested its hosting service providers to invoice the new entity, which has been ongoing for at least a month. (Blockspace)Previously, sources disclosed that the world's largest Bitcoin mining pool, Foundry, is laying off 27% of its workforce during the planned restructuring, affecting 16% of Foundry's employees in the U.S. and parts of the team in India.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, a ruling by the New York State Supreme Court allows Greenidge Generation to continue generating power and conducting Bitcoin mining at its facility in Dresden, New York, and to reapply for the Chapter V air permit under the Clean Air Act that was denied by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in June 2022.Nevertheless, the court also affirmed DEC's authority to deny permits under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The court found that DEC's decision was arbitrary and capricious, but there was no evidence of improper policymaking by DEC, which means that Greenidge's permit will be reconsidered.

According to ChainCatcher news, as reported by Decrypt, Bitcoin company Swan has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, accusing its former employees (including former executives) of colluding with Tether to steal its Bitcoin mining business worth billions of dollars. Swan claims that these former employees stole the company's highly proprietary Bitcoin mining monitoring software code, vendor and business partner resources, and collectively resigned to establish a competing company named Proton Management.The lawsuit alleges that Tether played a significant role in this conspiracy by sending Swan a "default notice," providing "legal cover" for this hostile takeover. Swan is seeking a permanent injunction from the court against Proton to prevent further interference with Swan's mining operations and is demanding that the former employees return the stolen equipment and "confidential materials." Swan has requested a jury trial, with the specific amount of damages to be determined at trial.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, investment bank Jefferies stated in a research report on Monday that due to a 2% increase in Bitcoin prices, a 5% decrease in network mining difficulty, and adjustments made to the market's expectations regarding the halving, Bitcoin mining profits in June were higher than in May.Analyst Jonathan Petersen wrote: "From the most obvious direct impact of the halving in May, June was a month of moderate recovery in (mining profits)."

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, the Paraguayan Bitcoin mining industry has responded to the National Electricity Administration (ANDE) participating in the closure of several illegal Bitcoin mining sites. Bruno Vaccotti, the public affairs director of the Bitcoin mining company Penguin, revealed the existence of three "vulture contracts," which have slowed the development of the Bitcoin mining business in Paraguay.In a radio interview, Vaccotti acknowledged that illegal mining operations have harmed ANDE's revenue, but he criticized the agency's statements regarding Bitcoin mining activities. He stated that Penguin pays $850,000 in electricity bills each month, which is nearly 50% of the $2 million loss that ANDE claims is caused by illegal crypto mining."Vulture contracts" are agreements signed by ANDE with other undisclosed third-party Bitcoin miners, affecting the electricity supply to new mining sites and causing losses to the country. Vaccotti noted that these energy-intensive contracts are often signed by foreign investors seeking speculation.The energy allocated to these parties is prevented from being used for these operations, thereby harming the potential for legitimate Bitcoin mining investors to utilize the energy involved. Vaccotti emphasized that this could have a greater impact than the illegal activities that ANDE is currently investigating.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Dirk Röder, the Head of Web3 Infrastructure and Solutions at T-Mobile Germany, stated during a speech at BTC Prague, "Since 2023, we have been running Bitcoin nodes, and we are also running Bitcoin Lightning nodes. I want to tell you a little secret, we will soon be engaging in digital currency mining activities."

ChainCatcher news, according to Forbes, the landlocked country of Bhutan in the Eastern Himalayas has been using its renewable energy to operate a Bitcoin mining business for years.A government representative stated that the country "started mining Bitcoin a few years ago as one of the early entrants when the price of Bitcoin was around $5,000."Insiders further revealed that the Bhutanese government has partnered with the Nasdaq-listed mining company BitDeer. An investor from the company provided more insights into the collaboration: "We expect Bhutan's 550 megawatt power supply to generate 100 megawatts of power, with the construction of the mining data center expected to begin in the second quarter of 2023 and be completed by the third quarter of 2024." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, Celsius Network has submitted a sale plan to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. This plan is part of the overall restructuring plan for Celsius's retail platform and mining business, centered around a principle agreement with digital asset investment firm NovaWulf Digital Management to sell the Celsius retail platform and mining operations to NovaWulf.It is reported that the plan was reached after negotiations with the official committee of unsecured creditors, after which a binding agreement will be finalized, designating NovaWulf as the winning bidder for the Celsius retail platform and mining business. NovaWulf will provide $45 million to $55 million in cash. (source link)

According to ChainCatcher news and a tweet by U.S. trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis, the Formula One World Championship has once again applied for new trademarks related to NFTs and cryptocurrencies. According to one of the documents, Formula One plans to provide software for cryptocurrencies, digital collectibles, and NFTs. The software will also support cryptocurrency payments and exchange transactions. Another document relates to retail store services in virtual goods. Formula One intends to create an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of cryptocurrencies, planning to facilitate financial transactions using blockchain technology and even venture into cryptocurrency mining.Previously reported, Formula One submitted two trademark applications related to NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and the metaverse for the Las Vegas Strip Circuit in August this year, covering NFTs, cryptocurrencies, virtual clothing + sports equipment, currency trading + virtual currency services, etc. (source link)